Live 8 and Live Aid factfile

:: Live 8 bursts into song on July 2, when five simultaneous rock concerts will be held in London , Paris , Rome , Berlin and Philadelphia .

:: Bob Geldof and Midge Ure are organising the free concerts to raise awareness of global poverty. Live 8 will coincide with the G8 summit of world leaders which is being held in Edinburgh on July 6.

:: More than 100 artists, including U2, Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder, Duran Duran, Madonna and Coldplay, will be taking part.

:: Live 8 has already earned a place in the Guinness World Records for holding the world's largest text message lottery. A ticket text hotline for the London concert received 2,060,285 entries.

:: The original Live Aid was held on July 13, 1985, at Wembley Stadium. Performers included the Style Council, Queen, Status Quo, Elton John and Spandau Ballet.

:: Another show, featuring Tina Turner, Mick Jagger and Patti Labelle, was held simultaneously at the JFK Stadium, Philadelphia , and both events raised about ￡40 million for famine relief.

:: The concerts, like the Band Aid single Do They Know It's Christmas?, were originally inspired by footage of mass starvation in Ethiopia captured in a BBC News report by Michael Buerk.

:: An estimated 74,000 people, including the Prince of Wales and Diana, packed into Wembley Stadium to watch the 12-hour concert.

:: The concert featured a live hook-up between Britain and the USA and was broadcast and telecast live around the world. About 1.4 billion are thought to have watched it on TV in 170 different countries.

:: Phil Collins managed to play at both shows. After his spot at Wembley, he jumped on Concorde, jetted across the Atlantic and played again in Philadelphia later in the same day.

:: Geldof hitch-hiked home from the London gig after his car went missing from the stadium car park.

:: The original Live Aid raised about ￡40 million for famine relief. Almost half of the cash was spent immediately on food aid with the rest set aside for long-term development.