{"id":21886,"date":"2025-07-19T16:56:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T16:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/21886\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T16:56:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T16:56:07","slug":"phil-collins-jetted-across-the-ocean-to-perform-in-two-live-aid-concerts-but-it-wasnt-without-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/21886\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil Collins jetted across the ocean to perform in two Live Aid concerts, but it wasn\u2019t without drama"},"content":{"rendered":"

Programming Note: Watch CNN Original Series \u201cLive Aid: When Rock \u2019n\u2019 Roll Took On the World,\u201d<\/a> celebrating the definitive story of how two rockstars inspired the largest global music events in history. The second episode of the four-part series airs Sunday, July 20 at 9 p.m. ET\/PT.<\/p>\n

With the help of helicopters and a supersonic turbo jet, Phil Collins pulled off a series of performances worthy of a \u201cMission Impossible\u201d movie at Live Aid forty years ago.<\/p>\n

The singer and drummer participated in the benefit concerts organized by musicians Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to draw attention to a famine in Ethopia and raise money for relief efforts.<\/p>\n

Collins didn\u2019t perform on just one stage, but two \u2013 on two different continents.<\/p>\n

The Genesis frontman initially took to the stage in London at Wembley Stadium, where he performed \u201cAgainst All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)\u201d and \u201cIn the Air Tonight.\u201d He also played played drums for Branford Marsalis and Sting.<\/p>\n

That would have been enough for most artists, but not Collins.<\/p>\n

Instead, he hopped on a helicopter to Heathrow Airport in London, boarded The Concorde to New York City, then took another helicopter to Philadelphia, where he joined superstar Eric Clapton for his set and performed three songs with Led Zeppelin\u2019s Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones.<\/p>\n

(The Concorde<\/a> was a supersonic airliner that allowed passengers to cross the Atlantic in under three and a half hours. It made its first test flight in 1969 and was officially retired in 2003.)<\/p>\n

Backstage after the London performance, Collins gave an interview<\/a> in which he said he thought the first performance had \u201cgone very well, considering\u201d and expressed his pride in participating.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very proud to be asked to do it because everybody\u2019s involved and it\u2019s just great to be a part of something like this,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just too obvious to say it\u2019s for a good cause.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trouble across the pond<\/p>\n

There was, however, some drama in regards to the second show, and how the multiple performances came about.<\/p>\n

Collins explained that both Plant and Sting had separately asked him to participate in Live Aid, with a UK-based promoter suggesting he take The Concorde in order to play both shows.<\/p>\n

But Collins explained to Classic Rock in 2021<\/a> that the second show with Led Zeppelin was less than smooth, in part because he neglected to rehearse with the band beforehand, and also due to the bandmates\u2019 strained relationships.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time I got there, me and Robert and Jimmy playing together had become The Second Coming Of Led Zeppelin \u2013 (bassist and keyboardist) John Paul Jones was there too. Jimmy says: \u2018We need to rehearse.\u2019 And I said: \u2018Can\u2019t we just go on stage and have a play?\u2019\u201d Collins recalled. \u201cSo I didn\u2019t rehearse when I got there, but I listened to \u2018Stairway To Heaven\u2019 on Concorde.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the end result was messy, partially due to the fact that co-drummer Tony Thompson \u201chad rehearsed for a week, and I\u2019m about to steal his thunder \u2013 the famous drummer\u2019s arrived! \u2013 and he kind of did what he wanted to do. Robert wasn\u2019t match-fit. And if I could have walked off, I would have done, cause I wasn\u2019t needed and I felt like a spare part.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyway, we came off, and we got interviewed by MTV. And Robert is a diamond, but when those guys get together a black cloud appears,\u201d Collins continued. \u201cThen Page says: \u2018One drummer was halfway across the Atlantic and didn\u2019t know the stuff.\u2019 And I got pissed off. Maybe I didn\u2019t know it as well as he\u2019d like me to have done, but\u2026 I became the flagship, and it looked like I was showing off.\u201d<\/p>\n

It ended up becoming a Led Zepplin reunion that Collins wrote about not wanting to be a part of in his 2016 autobiography, \u201cNot Dead Yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t come here to play with Led Zeppelin, I came here to play with a friend of mine who has morphed back into being the singer of Led Zeppelin \u2013 a very different animal to the one that invited me,\u201d Collins wrote. \u201cNow I\u2019m caught up in the ceaselessly toxic, dysfunctional web of Led Zeppelin interpersonal relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

A surprise encounter<\/p>\n

While his second performance perhaps did not go quite as Collins had hoped, Live Aid raised more than $125 million for famine relief. His transatlantic flight also included a very famous fellow passenger.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got on Concorde, Cher was on it,\u201d Collins recalled in the CNN original series \u201cLive Aid: When Rock \u2019n\u2019 Roll Took On the World<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cher asked Collins what he was up to.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a live gig in London today and in Philadelphia,\u201d Collins said he told Cher. \u201cShe said, \u2018Oh, could you get me on it?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Hours later, Cher joined a star-studded group of artists on stage to close out Live Aid with a performance of \u201cWe Are the World.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mission accomplished.<\/p>\n

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Programming Note: Watch CNN Original Series \u201cLive Aid: When Rock \u2019n\u2019 Roll Took On the World,\u201d celebrating the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21887,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,88,19813,19812,19810,19815,2520,2085,19811,19814],"class_list":{"0":"post-21886","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-jimmy-page","11":"tag-john-paul-jones","12":"tag-led-zeppelin","13":"tag-live-aid-concert","14":"tag-performance","15":"tag-philadelphia","16":"tag-robert-plant","17":"tag-supersonic-airliner"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}