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51-449: The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness was a benefit concert held on Easter Monday , 20 April 1992, at Wembley Stadium in London , England, for an audience of 72,000. The concert was produced for television by Ray Burdis , directed by David Mallet and broadcast live on television and radio to 76 countries around the world, with an audience of up to one billion. The concert

102-406: A backing track with bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. The composition excited the band so much, they decided to include it on the album. They told Wenders, "You can have it but we want it, too", while also informing him that they were using the film title for the song. According to Jennifer O'Brien of The Times , the lyrics were inspired by a brief falling out that Bono and

153-728: A compilation of Mercury's various interactions with audiences. The second half of the concert featured the three remaining Queen members – John Deacon (on bass), Brian May (on guitar) and Roger Taylor (on drums) – along with guest singers and guitarists, including Elton John , Roger Daltrey (of The Who ), Tony Iommi (of Black Sabbath ), Ian Hunter , David Bowie , Mick Ronson , James Hetfield (of Metallica ), George Michael , Seal , Paul Young , Annie Lennox , Lisa Stansfield , Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin ), Joe Elliott and Phil Collen (of Def Leppard ), Axl Rose and Slash (of Guns N' Roses ), Liza Minnelli , and others. Via satellite from Sacramento, California, U2 dedicated

204-611: A faculty associate in Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison , compared "Until the End of the World" with U2's 1987 song " Exit " in an examination of the role music can play in catharsis . He noted that both were powerful songs, but that while "Until the End of the World" allowed the possibility of purification, which he described as the cleansing of the soul "through pity and fear", by placing

255-450: A favourite celebrity support a cause can influence fans to support the same cause—not because the cause is significant to the fans, but because it seems significant to the artist. To feel connected to a celebrity, fans are likely to participate in activities the celebrity considers important. For example, if a benefit concert starred unknown musicians performing songs for unknown people in Africa,

306-441: A greater cause. The efficiency of celebrity charity is explained by the theory of Catalytic Philanthropy designed by Paul Schervish . His thesis explains that it is more beneficial to a cause that celebrities do not contribute by only donating their money, but by participating in event like benefit concerts. That way stars can inspire hundreds of thousands of others to give. The presence of celebrities can draw criticism, but that

357-497: A live performance of " Until the End of the World " to Mercury. The concert was originally released in VHS form (usually in two-tape releases worldwide), but due to time limitations, "Love of My Life" and "More Than Words" by Extreme, "Animal" and "Let's Get Rocked" by Def Leppard, Spinal Tap's "The Majesty of Rock", U2's "Until The End of the World", Mango Groove 's " Special Star " and Robert Plant 's version of "Innuendo" were removed from

408-550: A mean to gain support to the cause in hand. Furthermore, the success of benefit concerts is tightly related to the quality of entertainment offered by them. To gain space and legitimization in the media, benefit concerts must have a large audience, the kind of large crowd attracted by famous music stars. Bob Geldof himself responded to criticisms about the lack of African artists on the Live 8 by stating that, although those musicians produce great works, they do not sell many albums—and, for

459-455: A nation after a disaster (such as America: A Tribute to Heroes ). Concrete objectives include raising funds (such as Live Aid ) and influencing legislation (such as Live 8 or Farm Aid ). The two largest benefit concerts of all time, in size, were the Live 8 and the Live Earth events, which both attracted billions of spectators. Scholars theorize that the observed increase on concert size since

510-449: A particular cause or occasion. They argue that media events interrupt the flow people's daily lives, and that such events create a rise of interpersonal communication or "fellow feeling". Furthermore, they propose that media events transform the ordinary role of the viewer into something more interactive where they adhere to the script of the event. All these principles of media events are true of benefit concerts. Benefit concerts interrupt

561-524: A set list position, having appeared occasionally as a part of the Zoo TV-themed encore. By the fourth and fifth legs, it secured a regular set position it has occupied on tours past (before "New Year's Day"). It was played at an award ceremony when U2 won for Outstanding Contribution to Music at the BRIT Awards in 2001, along with " Beautiful Day ", " One ", and " Mysterious Ways ". It was also performed when

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612-479: A social agenda or fund-raising focus. Until the End of the World (song) " Until the End of the World " is a song by the Irish rock band U2 and the fourth track from their 1991 album Achtung Baby . The song began as a guitar riff composed by lead vocalist Bono from a demo , which the band revisited with success after talking with German filmmaker Wim Wenders about providing music for his film Until

663-461: A twilight version…," wrote in Q , "finding dark, bottom-of-the-bottle desperation in its lyrics." The song is U2's 10th most frequently played song in concerts, and has been played on every U2 tour since it debuted on Zoo TV Tour , except for The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 . The song frequently segues into " New Year's Day ". Only until the third leg of the Vertigo Tour did it not regularly secure

714-460: Is outweighed by the benefits. Some argue that pop stars only take part in charity to improve their public image. That, arguably, may be a motivation, but their participation can be essential to the event's success. Celebrities not only promote catalytic philanthropy, they can produce an effect some call Geldofism : "The mobilization of pop stars and their fans behind a cause." Therefore, because of their visibility, celebrities are used by organizers as

765-423: Is you liked about this song is not there anymore. Sometimes, for example, the song would have disappeared under layers of overdubs." Eno aided the group in removing some of these overdubs. According to Hal Leonard Corporation 's sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, "Until the End of the World" is played at a tempo of 101 beats per minute in a 4/4 time signature . The basic key is E major . David Werther,

816-501: The Achtung Baby sessions proper. Although guitarist the Edge loved the riff, the band struggled to finalise a song from the demo during the album's recording sessions. After the band met with German filmmaker Wim Wenders , who was looking for music to use in his film Until the End of the World , the Edge was inspired to revisit the "Fat Boy" demo. In Dublin, he used the riff to assemble

867-406: The "power of the people" to change the world. Benefit concerts, therefore, have the potential to raise enormous sums of money for a cause because of the para-social interaction that occurs between the performing celebrities (the leaders) and the spectating fans (the people). Dan Laughey describes para-social interaction as "the apparent familiarity between media personalities and audiences". Seeing

918-462: The 1971 Concert For Bangladesh . Comprising two shows on the same day at Madison Square Garden , it was organized by and starred George Harrison and Ravi Shankar . The format of most modern benefit concerts, involving many acts, was pioneered in 1985 with Bob Geldof's Live Aid. Benefit concerts are a major example of celebrity charity for they involve popular musicians; actors and actresses; and other kinds of entertainment figures volunteering to

969-547: The COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. It was available for 48 hours. In April 2022, Queen streamed the concert again to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the concert as well as the Mercury Phoenix Trust. Several songs from the concert have also been released in audio-only format: (Several of Mercury's most famous songs, including " Seven Seas of Rhye ", " Killer Queen ," " Love of My Life ", " Play

1020-652: The DVD, at Plant's request. In addition, the original 4:3 footage had been cropped down to widescreen. The DVD was certified Gold in Poland. On 24 June 2013, Queen announced on their Facebook page that a new remastered version of the concert would be released in late 2013 on DVD and Blu-ray . The DVD and Blu-ray was released on 2 September 2013. Like the earlier VHS release, this version excludes Extreme's "Love of My Life" and "More Than Words", Def Leppard's "Animal" and "Let's Get Rocked", performance by Spinal Tap, U2 and Mango Groove from

1071-562: The Edge had. Bono wrote the lyrics relatively quickly at his father-in-law's house in Wexford , having woken up with the idea of a conversation between Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot . Bono had difficulty finding a key he could sing in, as he remarked that he sings most songs "a little bit too high or a little bit too low". Consequently, the only melody he felt comfortable singing was conversational. Reading poetry by John Keats , Percy Bysshe Shelley , and Lord Byron inspired Bono to touch on

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1122-402: The End of the World and also (once again in a different version) in the movie Entropy . A live performance, dedicated to Freddie Mercury , was shown at Wembley via satellite for The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert . There was a video created for this song which appeared on the video release Achtung Baby: The Videos, The Cameos, and A Whole Lot of Interference from Zoo TV . However, it

1173-536: The End of the World . The song's lyrics describe a fictional conversation between Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot . The first verse discusses the Last Supper ; the second is about Judas identifying Jesus with a kiss on the cheek in the Garden of Gethsemane ; and the final is about Judas' suicide after being overwhelmed with guilt and sadness. "Until the End of the World" enjoyed airplay on alternative and rock radio in

1224-597: The Game ", " Don't Stop Me Now " and " Made in Heaven ", were not performed by the remaining members of the band with guest artists.) Queen were backed by the following musicians: Sales figures based on certification alone. Shipments figures based on certification alone. Benefit concert Benefit concerts can have both subjective and concrete objectives. Subjective objectives include raising awareness about an issue such as misery in Africa (such as Live 8 ) and uplifting

1275-645: The Les Paul Standard Goldtop. Although the song was recorded in the key of E, live performances have always been played in a higher key, F# on Zoo TV and PopMart, G on all other tours. U2 performed "Until the End of the World" during their 2023–2024 U2:UV Achtung Baby Live residency at the Sphere in the Las Vegas Valley. During the performances, the venue's LED screen displayed footage of storm clouds, lightning, and rising water. The song culminated with

1326-1025: The Live Aid "rob Africans of agency, reinforces Western ethnocentrism and racisms and see famine as a natural disaster rather than as a political issue". Benefit concerts are an effective form of gaining support and raising funds for a cause because of the large media coverage that they usually receive. In addition to the results they generate themselves, benefit concerts also generate a kind of cascading effect. That is, larger benefit concert motivate smaller concerts and other kinds of charity initiatives. Large-scale benefit concerts attract millions of viewers and are usually broadcast internationally. As powerful means of mass communication, they can be highly effective at raising funds and awareness for humanitarian causes. Media scholars Dayan and Katz classify benefit concerts as "media events": shared experiences that unite viewers with one another and their societies. In fact, in their book Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History ,

1377-572: The Live Aid is happening because organizers strive to make their events as big as the tragedy at hand, thus hoping to gain legitimization that way. Examples exist in musical history of concerts being staged for philanthropic purposes. In 1749, the composer George Frideric Handel wrote his Foundling Hospital Anthem , and put on annual performances of Messiah , to support an orphans' charity in London. While many composers and performers took part in concerts to raise donations for charitable causes, it

1428-531: The United States, where it was released as a promotional single ; it peaked within the top 5 of Billboard ' s Modern Rock Tracks and Album Rock Tracks charts. It also peaked at number 69 on the Canadian RPM Top 100 singles chart. "Until the End of the World" originated from a guitar riff by vocalist Bono from a demo called "Fat Boy" that the band recorded at STS Studios in 1990, prior to

1479-420: The authors suggest that the song synonymous with the Live Aid benefit concert, " We Are the World ", might as well be the theme song for media events, as it nicely encompasses the tone of such occasions: "these ceremonies (media events) are so all-encompassing that there is nobody left to serve-as out-group". Dayan and Katz define media events as shared experiences that unite viewers and call their attention to

1530-485: The band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. On why the song has remained as a live staple despite not being released as a single, the Edge said, "I think it's an amazing song live because it really showcases everything the band does best. In terms of its visceral energy and impact, it's one of those songs that's hard to beat...It's got references to mortality, to all the big questions." It has appeared on

1581-400: The cause. According to a theory, by Jane Bennett , when people sing in the presence of other people, and that happens in benefit concerts, they become connected to each other and are more likely to work together towards a goal. Critics also say that benefit concerts are just a way for the rich West to forgive itself by helping the poor and distressed. These critiques argue that concerts like

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1632-561: The concert DVD releases Zoo TV: Live from Sydney , PopMart: Live from Mexico City , Elevation 2001: Live from Boston , U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle , U2 360° at the Rose Bowl and Innocence + Experience: Live in Paris . It also appeared on the CD and DVD versions of The Best of 1990-2000 compilation album. It was featured (in a different version) on the soundtrack to the movie Until

1683-447: The familiar face of their beloved artist on stage endorsing a cause, fans feel more compelled to support the cause. Criticisms against benefit concerts go further than just criticizing the intentions of the celebrities involved. Some argue that benefit concerts are a wrong response for tragedies because the atmosphere involved on them is not one of mourning. Further criticism comes from those who argue that Geldofism turns celebrities into

1734-487: The incentive for viewers to donate would be minimal. Bob Geldof, the founder of Live Aid, is aware of the need of familiarity and para-social interaction on behalf of the viewer. When criticised for not inviting enough African performers to play at Live Aid (of which the main purpose was famine relief for Africa), Geldof commented that only popular musicians were invited to play at the show because unfamiliar artists would cause viewers to lose interest and "switch off". In seeing

1785-452: The listener in the position of Judas Iscariot, "Exit" was an example of purgation, a freeing from excess pity and fear. Werther noted "'Exit' evokes feelings of fear, fear of losing control, giving into one's dark side, perhaps even taking one's life", contrasting it to the "waves of regret" experienced by Judas. Upon the release of Achtung Baby , many critics praised "Until the End of the World". Steve Morse of The Boston Globe thought it

1836-403: The music of Queen, including Metallica , Extreme (playing a Queen medley), Def Leppard (who brought Brian May onstage for a version of " Now I'm Here "), and Guns N' Roses . Between bands, several video clips honouring Freddie Mercury were shown while roadies changed the stage for the following act's performance. Elizabeth Taylor then gave an AIDS prevention speech, which was followed by

1887-706: The only legitimate spokespeople for a cause, robbing the NGOs of the possibilities to speak up for a cause. In chronological order, beginning with the earliest date: The following is an incomplete list of benefit concerts with their own Misplaced Pages page. For a more descriptive and inclusive list focusing on historically notable events, see the list above . Note that while some of the listed concerts feature only one headliner and several supporting acts, other benefit concerts feature diverse lineups and are also considered music festivals . This list may have some overlap with list of free festivals , which are rock festivals that often have

1938-576: The opening acts segment, and Plant's "Innuendo" from the Queen+ segment. It was certified Platinum in the UK. Clips of rehearsals and of Metallica's set (as well as James Hetfield's performance of "Stone Cold Crazy" with Queen and Tony Iommi) were featured in the 1992 documentary A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica . In May 2020, Queen announced that they would be premiering the concert on YouTube to raise money for

1989-408: The original release. The US release also omitted Bob Geldof 's performance of "Too Late God", and Zucchero 's performance of " Las Palabras de Amor ". In April 2002, for the 10th anniversary of the Mercury Phoenix Trust, the second half of the concert (featuring the performances by the surviving members of Queen) was released on DVD and entered the UK charts at No. 1. " Innuendo " was not included on

2040-492: The remaining members of Queen ( John Deacon , Brian May and Roger Taylor ) came together with their manager, Jim Beach , to organise a concert to celebrate the life and legacy of Mercury (and to raise money for AIDS research and spread awareness about the disease). In the 1992 BRIT Awards ceremony, May and Taylor announced plans for the concert. When tickets finally went on sale, all 72,000 tickets sold out in just three hours, even though no performers were announced apart from

2091-435: The remaining members of Queen. "Good evening Wembley and the world. We are here tonight to celebrate the life, and work, and dreams, of one Freddie Mercury. We're gonna give him the biggest send-off in history!"  —Queen guitarist Brian May . The concert opened with a message from the three remaining members of Queen in tribute to Mercury. The music then commenced with short sets from artists that were influenced by

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2142-673: The routine of people's lives because they occur (in most cases) for only for one night or for one week-end. Furthermore, they are broadcast as television spectacles that interrupt the regular scheduled programming on a given television network. Often, this kind of announced interruption has television viewers discussing the event with others beforehand, generating excitement around the event. Moreover, benefit concerts encourage audiences to adhere to their script, such as by phoning in donations or signing an online pledge. As media events, benefit concerts are widely broadcast and seen by millions of people. (The Live Aid charity concert in 1985, for example,

2193-475: The sake of reaching as many people as possible, his concert had to include only popular artists. Finally, the quality of entertainment is key to the creation of a public sphere where discussions about the concert's cause can occur. The better the entertainment, the more people watch the concert, and thus the more people become aware of the cause. Furthermore, the music played in the concerts can lead spectators to interconnect and become more likely to act towards

2244-399: The song's introduction. At one point, assisting producer Brian Eno believed the additions had negatively impacted the track. Eno, who would occasionally visit the studio and review material for a short amount of time before leaving, believed his distance from the album allowed him to provide a fresh perspective. He explained his assistance: "I'd go in and say, 'The song has gone, whatever it

2295-495: The song, noting that "he has always made inspired use of devices like echo and reverb" and "his shimmering washes of color" in the song are instantly recognizable. The Austin Chronicle singled out "Larry Mullen Jr.'s seismic turn" on the song as one of three moments on the record where the band has never sounded better. Patti Smith reworked the song for the 2011 tribute album AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered . "The punk poet turns in

2346-437: The theme of temptation in his lyrics. U2 and their production team expended considerable effort to finalise the song. The band added various overdubs during the recording sessions, including percussion loops by Mullen, as well as a sweeping guitar sound created by their engineer Flood that sounded like it went "between the speakers". Producer Daniel Lanois provided additional percussion, playing congas heard during

2397-535: Was a tribute to Queen 's lead vocalist, Freddie Mercury , who died of an AIDS -related illness on 24 November 1991. The show marked bassist John Deacon 's final full-length concert with Queen (save a short live appearance with Brian May , Roger Taylor and Elton John in 1997). The profits from the concert were used to launch the Mercury Phoenix Trust , an AIDS charity organization. Following Freddie Mercury 's death on 24 November 1991 from AIDS ,

2448-399: Was also not unusual in the 18th and 19th centuries for musicians to stage performances to raise funds for their own professional work, such as Ludwig van Beethoven 's 1808 Akademie concert . The modern understanding of a benefit concert is of a large-scale, popular event put on to support a charitable or political cause. In the modern era , the first benefit concert is generally seen as

2499-718: Was never publicly released. There was also a live video composed of footage from two performances on the Outside Broadcast leg of the Zoo TV Tour, from Yankee Stadium and Houston , which appeared on The Best of 1990-2000 DVD. Edge has always used a Gibson Les Paul to play this song. On the Zoo TV Tour, he used the Les Paul Custom. On the PopMart , Elevation , Vertigo , U2 360° and Innocence + Experience Tours , he has used

2550-471: Was seen by an estimated 1.5 billion viewers worldwide.) However, this mass dissemination is only one of the factors that contribute to the success of benefit concerts. The people who send the message for collective action are essential to a benefit concert's effectiveness. Dayan and Katz suggest that media events are an expression of a "neo-romantic desire for heroic action", meaning that media events produce leaders who inspire collective action with belief in

2601-461: Was the best song on the album, calling it a "raging rocker" with "fiery bass runs" by Clayton. Morse interpreted some of the lyrics differently from the song's original intent, noting that the lines "We ate the food / We drank the wine / Everybody having a good time / Except you / You were talking about the end of the world" were as if Bono was giving a "terse kiss-off to a former lover at a party". Rolling Stone praised The Edge's guitar playing on

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