Rod Stewart explains “weird” reason why he didn’t perform at Live Aid

16 November 2021, 12:16

By Hannah Lovejoy

@HanLovejoy

Rod Stewart has revealed the reason why he never performed at Live Aid and it seems that he only found out why recently.

Rod Stewart is a British rock icon and was extremely popular in the 1980s during the time of Live Aid airing on TV.

Live Aid was one of the most unforgettable live music events of the 1980s and was a defining moment for the western music industry.

The 16-hour Live Aid show had performances from some of the world’s best musicians including George Michael, Paul McCartney, Queen, Madonna, Bob Dylan, David Bowie and Paul Simon.

Rod Stewart wasn’t included on the line-up despite having massive success with his recent single at the time titled ‘Some Guys Have All The Luck’.

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For many years, it was thought that Rod didn’t perform at the concert because he couldn’t get a band together in time for the event. However, Rod recently found out that there was another reason for him not attending the show.

Speaking to BBC News, Rod said that he was “supposed” to perform at Live Aid and has only recently discovered that his former manager stopped it from happening because of not getting specific media coverage.

"We actually were supposed to do it but a few guys in the band told me that our ex-manager turned it down because I wasn't getting the right news coverage,” Rod explained.

"He only wanted me to do it if I got on the CBS news at 10 o'clock. He said, 'If not, he's not doing it.'”

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Rod went on to say “that’s not what it was all about” as the focus should of been on helping raise money for charity.

He continued: "And that's not what it was all about. It was to raise money for kids. It wasn't about what news channel you were going to be on in America.”

"I only just found this out, I thought it was weird that I didn't do it,” Rod added.

The larger-than-life charity concert was held in both London, UK and Philadelphia, US in July 1985. The event was organised to raise money for famine relief in Africa - in total, the show raised over $127 million (which is around $326 million in today’s money value).