Brian May believes a Live Aid-style concert should be held to combat climate change
Brian May, the lead guitarist of British rock band Queen, believes a Live Aid concert should be held to help fight climate change, The Daily Mirror reports.
Queen participated in 1985’s Live Aid, a dual-venue benefit concert held to raise money for relief of the Ethiopian famine. It was one of the largest television broadcasts ever, with around 1.5 billion people tuning in. The concert, which featured artists like Elton John, David Bowie, Madonna, and Mick Jagger, raised $127 million for the cause.
Following an ever-growing number of reports outlining the severity of climate change and its worsening state, May told The Daily Mirror that a Live Aid concert should be held to raise funds to help end the environmental crisis. And if it happened, Queen would participate.
“It probably would take the younger generation to take that bull by the horns,” May told The Daily Mirror. “We’d help in any way we can, but I think that’s what it would require.”
May commented that the issue of climate change is “so enormous” that even a Live Aid-sized concert may not be enough. He added, “People have seen so many concerts since Live Aid purporting to be solving the problems of the world so it’s not quite as easy as it seems.”
Whilst May hasn’t commented on whether he follows a plant-based diet, the musician frequently uses his platform to influence change. Last year, he took a petition to the UK Parliament that urged the government to make moves toward a fur-free Britain. As well as May, the petition was backed by names like Judi Dench, Ricky Gervais, and Evanna Lynch.
Last month, he encouraged his fans to support vegan businesses. The musician took to Instagram, writing, “I was getting fed up with trying to explain why an animal campaigner would be wearing skins of animals on his feet.” He added that swapping to cruelty-free footwear made his conscience feel “so much better.”
“[E]very time you invest in vegan merchandise you invest in the health of the planet and the animals that live on it, including ourselves,” he added.
Speaking The Daily Mirror, May noted that it “takes courage to stand up for animals.”
This post was last modified on December 15, 2020 6:03 am