Awesome fact about Phil Collins #1: He cared more about Ethiopian famine than all the other performers at Live Aid combined

In July 1985, some dudes I have never heard of before (because I’m an American under 40) called Bob Geldolf and Midge Ure hosted a music festival called Live Aid to benefit Ethiopian famine relief. This festival took place in London AND Philadelphia at the same time, and according to Wikipedia, “it was one of the largest-scale satellite link-ups and television broadcasts of all time: an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion, across 150 nations, watched the live broadcast.”

Across the 2 concerts, there were over 60 performers/bands. But only 1 performed at BOTH concerts. This is of course Phil Collins, as he was the only performer who possessed not only the talent to deliver an entertaining performance in both the UK and USA but also the stamina of a bull elk in heat.

Here’s how it went down: 

And some more here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o22E44APYGw

Not only did Phil Collins perform in the UK and the US, he also performed in more than 1 set in the US of A. He did a set of his own awesome stuff "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" and "In the Air Tonight" on the piano to give his drums a well-deserved rest….

and THEN played drums for Eric Clapton…

and THEN played drums again for a Led Zepplin reunion set….

And it is with this Led Zepplin performance in mind, I will bring this awesome fact to conclusion.

If you watched the video above, you can form your own opinions about the performance but according to many critics and fans who witnessed it as it was happening the entire Led Zepplin set at Live Aid was a hot mess (like most band reunion shows, I’m afraid). Jimmy Page blames Phil Collins for the weak performance and claims he ruined the show. Regardless of the fact this claim is coming from a grown man named “Jimmy,” he and Robert Plant were unrehearsed and clearly should have never gotten on the stage together again.

Collins said in an interview in Spin Magazine: "They weren't very good and I was made to feel a little uncomfortable by the dribbling Jimmy Page. If I could have walked off, I would have - but then we'd be talking about why Phil Collins walked off from Led Zeppelin. So I just stayed there and bit my tongue."

Phil Collins: a classy and modest humanitarian who humors awkwardly fading rock bands.