By Luke Adlard

The 13th of July started like any ordinary day; Collins woke up at 9.45. In his memoir, Not Dead Yet, he writes, “The start of that day is the same for us as it is for millions of others: we have childcare issues… Jill and I have decided to leave Joely and Simon at my mums. Over thirty years later, Joely still won’t have forgiven me… We drop her and Simon at Mum and Barbara Speake’s place in Ealing, and Jill and I head towards Wembley Stadium”. The morning atmosphere for the people of London is a wonderful one, as Collins and his wife Jill make their way to Wembley, there are people out on the streets “having street parties and building a fabulous carnival atmosphere” as Collins would later say in his book. In the build-up to this day and arranging what he would sing, Collins received a call from Sting, who asked Phil if he was doing the “Geldof concert” and if so, would he like to do it together? Sting had left the police the year before and was trying to make a solo career for himself, but he did not want to be up there alone. Collins agreed and they rehearsed at his house. They agreed on an acoustic set each. After arriving at Wembley and speaking to and saying hi to everyone backstage, Collins finds his dressing room and then begins a hunt to get everyone’s autographs for his children, Joely and Simon. When asking Paul Young for his autograph, he comments, “I feel really strange doing this for Phil Collins.”

At 15.18, it is show time for Collins and Sting; Sting goes first. Noel Edmunds, who will soon take Collins from Wembley to Heathrow airport, introduces the pair of them, calling Collins one of the finest ambassadors of the British music industry. In a moment of confusion, Noel Edmonds introduces Collins first, later saying, “As I ran on promoter, Harvey Goldsmith was in the wings shouting at me, ‘It’s Phil Collins, and you’ve got to take him in the helicopter when he goes. … I went to the front and shouted out ‘Phil Collins’, turned around, and saw Sting walking towards me. He just looked at me and said, ‘Wrong.’ The biggest blooper of my career.” The heat of that day was 28 degrees when it came to Collins Turn. Unsurprisingly, with the 72,000 people watching at Wembley, millions on the TV, and not to mention the heat, it finally got to him when his finger slipped on the piano midway through Against All Odds, hitting a bum note, and leaving him with an expression of embarrassment across his face. Ever since that day, Collins has vowed never to play Against All Odds on the piano again, something he has stuck to. Andy Mayo was one of the thousands in attendance at Wembley and had this to say, “From what I remember, a gas canister (that was used for fizzy drinks they were selling at the other end of the stadium) exploded. It wasn’t heard on TV, but it made us nearby jump.” While sitting there watching Collins, Sting had this to say later on: “I was trying not to catch your eye, because the worst thing you know when your concentrating and somebody you know (catches your eye). I did once I was sitting at the end of the piano towling off, and I looked at him, and he looked at me, a very dodgy moment.” In his autobiography Collins says, “Just before we go on, casual as you like, Sting says, ‘By the way, sometimes I mess around with the words.’” Next thing I know, I’m standing at the piano, singing, and he’s off on a tangent. In total, Collins plays two songs of his own, Against All Odds and In The Air Tonight, out of stings 5-song set. Collins joins Sting, providing backing vocals on his final two songs of the set, Long Long Way to Go and Every Breath You Take. As Collins and Sting came off, waiting backstage was Howard Jones, who’s turn it was next. Collins told Jones, “The piano is a bit dodgy.” This left Jones with a nervous feeling later, saying, “I was thinking, Oh God, what is it going to be like?” Collins later on defended himself, saying, “I meant it as a token of goodwill, actually.” 

After coming off and getting changed, Collins did a few interviews backstage. When asked about the upcoming performance with Led Zeppelin, Collins said this: “I spoke to Robert last night, and he told me what songs we were playing. So I went back, got my Led Zeppelin two-cut album, dusted it off, and recorded  Whole Lot Of Love with all the scratches. I recorded the songs that they were going to do so I can listen to them on the plane, and then he is going to have a tape for me when I get off the plane to listen to their rehearsal. I have never rehearsed with them; I have only played with Robert; I have never played with Jimmy before.” In his book Collins says, “I still have to wait an hour or so for Noel Edmonds and his chopper to pick me up and get me to Heathrow. Even Geldof can’t tell air traffic controllers to pull their fucking fingers out.” When the time comes, Collins and his wife Jil, are taken by car and driven to a nearby airfield to Noel Edmonds chopper. 

This whole idea of traveling across the Atlantic was the brainchild of Harvey Goldsmith. Phil reached out to a few of his friends when the concert was announced and was hoping to be able to play drums as well as his own solo set. He spoke with Robert Plant, who was doing something with Jimmy Page, and then spoke with Eric Clapton. It soon became clear when he asked where they were playing, and the answer came back: America. Collins thought that was the end of the idea as he was playing in England. When Harvey Goldsmith went away and researched it, he found that it was possible; it could be done if on time and everything went according to plan. Collins agreed and was on board. Later on, Collins says, “I had been reassured I wasn’t the only one making the trip to Philadelphia… Duran Duran would be going as well. But for some reason Duran Duran are now only playing in America.”.

As soon as Edmonds’ helicopter landed at Heathrow, Collins and his wife, Jill, jumped out. With no time to lose, they quickly hurry to the waiting Concorde on the runway, waiting to depart once its famous passenger boards. Before this though, Collins is quickly thrust into the camera once again. Quickly, Steve Blacknell – a TV presenter and actor, who would later star in Collins’s 1990 Hang In Long Enough music video – who will be joining Collins on the Concorde, asked him a quick question as the packed commercial plane passengers aboard watches on. Just before he makes his way up the steps with his wife and Blacknell, a fan close by runs in front of Collins and gets his autograph. Once on board with his wife, Blacknell, the photographers, and the press, the Concorde sets off almost immediately. Once in the air, the Concorde flew over Wembley. Jack McFly, who was in the audience that day, recalls, “(a) very beautiful thing was seeing the Concorde from Wembley, truly spectacular!!… I remember some people starting to cheer when they saw the plane go through the sky.” Years later, Steve Blacknell remembered the flight on Concorde, saying, “I remember thinking how small Concorde was, mainly the ceiling of the toilet… The other thing that really struck me on a more serious note was that I couldn’t really understand why all the journalists on the plane, including me, were scoffing vol-au-vents, and I remember thinking there was food; I’m sure there was; I remember thinking that’s crazy. Because it’s all about famine. And it was a bit odd, I must confess.” As the plane was flying over Wales, Queen came on stage at Wembley and performed their now legendary set. Midway into the flight, as Steve Blacknell later recalls, “We were called into the cockpit by a hostess, I believe. Phil, Miss Collins, and myself share a big love (for)… Tony Hancock, we are both in the Tony Hancock Appreciation Society…. Now, the gentleman from the BBC who was ringing the cockpit was a man called Phil Chilvers… and Phil says, ‘Steve Blacknell, will you please say your piece’… As I remember it, we had prefaced that with a voice test back to the BBC in London, and both Phil and I went into one because it was such a bizarre thing, sitting there with the captain eating his sandwich; it was very odd. We both quoted from the radio ham, which was one of Hancock’s great pieces. So we were rambling about Tony Hancock. And then I think… Phil Chilvers said, ‘Can you please do your piece?’… We started to talk, and there was a lot of interference, and it was one of many things that went wrong for us at Live Aid… I’ve always thought that no one heard anything that we were talking about”. This was yet again another record set by Collins on this day, speaking live from the cockpit to the whole world listening in while Blacknell conducted his interview thousands of feet in the air while en route to Philadelphia. (A few days after this interview, Blacknell was back in England and walked into the pub the Lime Grove, the whole pub stood up and went shshshhhhhh in reference to the cockpit interview.) There is a rumor surrounding this flight that American singer Cher was on board, unaware of what was going on around her. Collins has repeatedly stated down the years that Cher came over to him and asked what was going on. After speaking to a few people who were there at the time, they can not confirm with certainty that she was on board. with Steve Blacknell stating, “I think I would have known if she was on the plane.” This is one decision for the reader to decide – While on the plane, Collins took this time to listen to the songs that he had recorded the night before for the set later in the day with Led Zeppelin, completely unaware of the stairway to disaster this would become. 

Phil’s Concorde touched down at JFK airport at 7 p.m. Bob Bailey, who was at JFK that day, worked for British Airways and handled most Concorde operations, had this to say, “I do remember that it was known that he would arrive and immediately depart on a helicopter to PHL, he had to have immigration and customs on the jetway to expedite his departure. His luggage was loaded topside so the bags could be looked at by customs and immediately put on the helicopter standing by. He spoke to a few of us and then went down the outside jetway steps, took a few photos and was off.” As Phil and his entourage were walking across the tarmac to the waiting helicopter, live scenes were shown to the thousands of people at John F. Kennedy Stadium, interrupting the end of the Cars set. Steve Blacknell years later remembers, “We were ushered into a helicopter, and I’d never been in one before. And I turned to Phil and said something. Before I knew it, we were hundreds of feet in the air and scared the crap out of me. I think he was more used to helicopters than I.” In his autobiography, Collins says this of the journey from New York to Philadelphia: “It takes almost as long to get from New York to Philly as it took to get across the Atlantic.” Once in the helicopter en route to Philadelphia, Collins soon realized that the tape with the rehearsal of the Led Zeppelin set—that Robert Plant told him the night before the concert would be on the helicopter for him—was not, later saying, “I was supposed to have a cassette to listen to in the helicopter coming here, but that didn’t materialize until I got here.” Upon arrival backstage, after speaking to his right hand man, “Steve ‘Pud’ Jones,” and getting the all clear that his drum kit was all okay, he rushes on a mission to Eric Clapton’s dressing room to have a quick chat and find out the songs they will be playing, and then he “rushed over to Jimmy and Robert to see what songs they were playing, and I got a quick 1, 2, 3, 4 through it, and I was told to lay off if I didn’t know where I was,” Collins said later on. From the moment he arrived at JFK Stadium, time was short; it was not long after this that Collins was to perform again.

7.38pm, Clapton, Collins, and the rest of the band head down “The tunnel, which we had to walk through from the dressing rooms to the stage, (which) was crowded with security”, Clapton later said in his autobiography. For Collins, this was what he had come to Philadelphia for, later saying, “I wanted to come and play with Eric… we’re great buddies, and I just wanted to play; I wanted to play the drums, so I came here to play with him.” Playing this set was easy for him, he had played numerous times with Clapton in the past, and these songs were second nature to him. Clapton’s other drummer also playing was Jamie Oldaker, and the two drummers gave each other space and kept “out of each other’s way, and the result is a beautiful thing,” later stated Collins in his book. Clapton’s set consisted of three songs, White Room, She’s Waiting, and Layla, all featuring Collins on drums. Clapton’s set finishes at 7.55pm; there was then a 5-minute turnover while they transformed the stage around for Collins’s solo set. Introducing Collins to the stage were Jack Nicolson and Bette Midler, both amazed by the journey that Collins had made, with Nicolson commenting, “Unbelievable, isn’t it, in this day and age”. One of the most memorable moments of the day was when Collins stepped up to the mic and uttered the words, “Good Evening Philadelphia, Good Evening America, Good Evening London, Good Evening The World. I was in England this afternoon. It’s a funny old world init?” Andrea Fay, who was watching from the audience, said, “I remember having chills all over my entire body as hundreds of yellow balloons were set free against the sunset sky.” Collins’s played the exact same set he played in England only Hours previously, he would later joke, “I only know two songs.” This time, he played through without any slip-ups. When it came to the drum break in the middle of in the air tonight, David Michael Dec, who was among the many in attendance, had this to say: “I remember the better part of (89,000) fans filling in the drums. Doo, doot, doo, doot, doo, doot.” After finishing his own set, Collins introduced Led Zeppelin. After the curtain from behind him came up, he made his way to the drum kit, and then the Led Zeppelin reunion began. Kicking off with Rock and Roll, it soon became evident to Collins that this was a mistake. Jimmy Page was off his head on drugs, Robert Plant was not in tune vocally, and the other drummer was a funk drummer. You ask yourself, What could possibly go wrong? The next song rolled into a Whole Lotta Love and finally Led Zeppelin’s anthem Stairway to Heaven. Collins often took the blame for this performance, labelled a car wreck, and widely criticised to the point that Led Zeppelin have refused to allow the performance to be included in the Live Aid DVD, and they have tried hard to erase the moment from the internet and their history. After this set was finally over, Collins once again went through the same ritual of a few interviews after the performance, finally decides to call it a night. Collins goes to find Kenny Kragen and tells him that he is too tired to stay any longer and he needs to sleep. It was originally planned for Collins to sing a line of We Are the World at the end of the concert, but that never materialized. Collins got the last helicopter back to New York, but there was no car waiting for him; someone had forgotten. They eventually managed to get a car for him to take him to his New York hotel, putting to an end this monumental and record-breaking day!.

It has now been 40 years since Phil Collins cemented this legendary moment in history. It is strange to think though that after all this time that, with Concorde now retired, we have not gone forward but backwards, as today it just would not be possible to achieve what Phil Collins did on the 13th of July 1985; not even Taylor Swift would be able to achieve this. 

Three years prior to Live Aid, Collins had played the Philadelphia Tower Theatre; this was his first solo tour. The theater had a capacity of 3,119, and here he was three years later playing both stages of Live Aid, adding up to 161,000 people (Wembley 72,000 and JFK Stadium 89,000) and the rest of the world watching Live on TV, to quote Phil Collins, “It’s a funny old world init.” 

Shortly before the 40th anniversary of Live Aid, when speaking to Phil Collins’s son Nic, he had this to say about his dad’s journey from Wembley to Philadelphia, “I mean he’s a mad man, he’s a mad man, But only he could do that. But you know, its a legendary thing to do.” Steve Blacknell also had this to say about the criticism Collins has come under fire for over the years for his two monumental performances, “He came under a bit of unnecessary criticism about being a bit of a show off; he was anything but a real gentleman, and all he wanted to do was do something different and bring the two countries together.”

About the Author:

Luke Adlard lives on the Wirral, Merseyside. Originally, he wanted to be a musician, and eventually he decided to follow his passion for writing. Currently, he is writing his first book, Searching for Pope Francis, which follows the reader on his journey searching for the late pope in his hour of need. To follow more of Luke’s journey and future projects, you can keep up to date by following his Instagram account at @lukeadlardwriter

Photo by Антон Злобин via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Photo by Drinu Cutajar via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.