2005: Live 8 Goes Global

On July 2, 2005, Live 8 turned pop culture into a synchronized global broadcast.

The benefit concerts took place across the G8 nations and South Africa, timed just ahead of the G8 summit in Scotland. More than 1,000 musicians performed, with broadcasts carried across hundreds of television and radio networks.

The campaign pushed world leaders to act on poverty relief, especially debt cancellation and increased aid for African nations. Estimates put the worldwide audience in the hundreds of millions, with some reports placing it far higher.