Bob Geldof says “there had to be a political agenda” behind Lady Gaga’s ‘One World: Together At Home’ benefit concert

"What was it they wanted?"

Bob Geldof has said he thinks “there had to be a political agenda” behind Lady Gaga‘s recent benefit concert, ‘One World: Together At Home’.

The event, which was organised by Global Citizen and featured an all-star lineup curated and led by the ‘Chromatica’ singer, saw acts including Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, and Billie Eilish, deliver performances of both original and cover songs to help raise money for coronavirus relief.

The virtual event raised almost $128 million. Of that amount, $55.1million will be donated to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organisation, whilst the remaining $72.8million will go to local and regional responders of those on the frontline.

Advertisement

In a new interview, Geldof said that while “Gaga was correct to try and do it,” he wasn’t interested in it and believes there was a political agenda behind it.

“Well done her and everybody for doing it, but I don’t understand the purpose,” the musician and Live Aid co-organiser said on this morning’s (June 6) BBC Radio 4 Today programme (the discussion starts at the 21:31 mark).

“Gaga was correct to try and do it,” he continued. “She’s an artist, she felt a responsibility, she got the others to come to the party.

“And then there had to be a political agenda behind it, which would achieve – what? What was it they wanted?”

Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga. CREDIT: Press

Earlier this year, Geldof said he believed Live Aid could never happen today.

Advertisement

The charity event took place at London’s Wembley Stadium in 1985, and was watched by nearly two billion people worldwide, over 40% of the world’s population. It raised $127 million for famine relief in Africa.

Another concert series of a similar kind, Live 8, took place in eight different locations in 2005, but Geldof believes another event on the Live Aid scale would be impossible today.

Meanwhile, the Boomtown Rats frontman has revisited the time he once sent 1,000 dead rats to radio DJs in the US as a publicity stunt.

“It was 1,000 dead actual rats which were ordered from the sanitation department of New York City and sent out from Chicago to 1,000 disc jockeys who were busy playing disco in the middle of the ’70s,” he explained on The One Show.

You May Also Like

Advertisement

TRENDING

Advertisement

More Stories