David Bailey Live Aid photographs in Essex sale
Iconic images of George Michael, Freddie Mercury and Bono, captured by acclaimed photographer David Bailey at Live Aid in 1985, will go under the hammer at Essex auction house Sworders in the summer.
The collection of 13 images, signed by the artists they depict, were those chosen at the time for a benefit auction. Each is from an edition of just three prints.
Bailey was backstage when ‘the global jukebox’ sprang into life at Wembley Stadium on July 13, 1985. The benefit concert, the brainchild of Boomtown Rats’ singer Bob Geldof, was organised at breakneck speed to raise funds for the relief of famine in Ethiopia. The event was held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, US with a television broadcast watched across 150 nations by an estimated 40% of the global population.
Backstage, the cream of British rock and pop music from Paul McCartney to Bono, hung out together.
Highlights in the sale depict The Who (signed on reverse by Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Kenny Jones), George Michel and Elton John (signed by both), Bob Geldof and Paula Yates (signed by both). George Michael on his own (signed) and the four members of Queen (again signed on reverse by Freddie Mercury, Brian May Roger Taylor and John Deacon).
Printed in editions of just three each, they were sold at auction later in the year as part of a charity event at Sotheby’s.
The large-scale photographs are to be offered in the Out of The Ordinary auction at Sworders Fine Art in Stansted Mountfitchet on July 30, some 39 years since the event itself. They carry estimates of between £1,000-1,500 (for Geldof and Yates) to £4,000-5,000 for George Michael.
Sale curator, Mark Wilkinson, commented: “For people of my generation, Live Aid was unforgettable, the most impressive live concert they had ever experienced. These striking black and white images, taken by David Bailey, give great insight to life behind the scenes. It is also poignant that a number of these artists are no longer with us today”.
