Spring Break
When they get their acts together, pop stars can help a cause
Issue date: 6/23/05 Section: News
(KRT) - Once again, the stars are coming out to support a cause.
This time it's the Live 8 global pop-music concert extravaganza, in nine cities on July 2, that seeks to galvanize public support for combating African poverty. It comes 20 years after Live Aid, the all-star benefit shows in Philadelphia and in London that raised $180.7 million (in today's dollars) to aid African famine relief.
Both productions are in the long show-business tradition of involvement in humanitarian, social and political issues, from helping workers organize to helping candidates get elected.
The benefit efforts don't always run smoothly, but it seems there's a concert for every cause, a show for every disaster.
In addition to raising money, raising awareness is the goal of any benefit show, says rock 'n' roll historian Glenn Gass of Indiana University, who adds that "before Live Aid, people hadn't given Africa a second thought."
In an early example of concerts for a cause, the pioneering folksinger Woody Guthrie traveled to migrant camps to perform on behalf of the labor movement in Texas and Oklahoma in 1938. In 1940, Guthrie and fellow performers Leadbelly, Pete Seeger and Aunt Molly Jackson lent their voices to a Grapes of Wrath Evening in New York, organized by actor Will Geer to benefit the John Steinbeck Committee for Agricultural Workers.
Last year, the high-profile Vote for Change tour that raised money for the Democrats featured the Dixie Chicks, R.E.M., the Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, James Taylor, and Bonnie Raitt. The headliner was Bruce Springsteen. He had sung for many causes, including the 1979 No Nukes concert and the 1985 all-star "We Are the World" record that raised $113.8 million for African famine relief, but he had never openly campaigned for a candidate until Democratic Sen. John Kerry took on President George W. Bush.
Issues and disasters come and go, but Farm Aid continues to thrive. It celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.
This time it's the Live 8 global pop-music concert extravaganza, in nine cities on July 2, that seeks to galvanize public support for combating African poverty. It comes 20 years after Live Aid, the all-star benefit shows in Philadelphia and in London that raised $180.7 million (in today's dollars) to aid African famine relief.
Both productions are in the long show-business tradition of involvement in humanitarian, social and political issues, from helping workers organize to helping candidates get elected.
The benefit efforts don't always run smoothly, but it seems there's a concert for every cause, a show for every disaster.
In addition to raising money, raising awareness is the goal of any benefit show, says rock 'n' roll historian Glenn Gass of Indiana University, who adds that "before Live Aid, people hadn't given Africa a second thought."
In an early example of concerts for a cause, the pioneering folksinger Woody Guthrie traveled to migrant camps to perform on behalf of the labor movement in Texas and Oklahoma in 1938. In 1940, Guthrie and fellow performers Leadbelly, Pete Seeger and Aunt Molly Jackson lent their voices to a Grapes of Wrath Evening in New York, organized by actor Will Geer to benefit the John Steinbeck Committee for Agricultural Workers.
Last year, the high-profile Vote for Change tour that raised money for the Democrats featured the Dixie Chicks, R.E.M., the Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, James Taylor, and Bonnie Raitt. The headliner was Bruce Springsteen. He had sung for many causes, including the 1979 No Nukes concert and the 1985 all-star "We Are the World" record that raised $113.8 million for African famine relief, but he had never openly campaigned for a candidate until Democratic Sen. John Kerry took on President George W. Bush.
Issues and disasters come and go, but Farm Aid continues to thrive. It celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.
