This Day in Rock Music History: Nelson Mandela 70th BDay
1988 - 30 years ago “Freedomfest”, a musical tribute to then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela, was held at Wembley Stadium, London. The event was broadcast to 67 countries with an estimated audience of about 600 million viewers. A total of 83 artists were signed to perform, including Sting, Simple Minds, Geroge Michael, Simple Minds, UB40, Whitney Houston, Dire Straits, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Tracy Chapman, The Bee Gees, Eurythmics, and Stevie Wonder. At the last minute Mr. Wonder could not perform as reportedly his backing track recording went missing.