Bob Geldof, of Live Aid and Live 8 Benefit Concerts, Speaks at Roger Williams on Tuesday

BRISTOL, R.I., Sept. 2006 � From France�s Versailles Palace to Moscow�s Red Square, millions of screaming fans invaded cities across the world in July 2005 for the world�s largest rock concert series ever. Live 8, the brainchild of rocker, author and activist Bob Geldof, featured legends like Madonna and U2 at 10 simultaneous concerts worldwide, raising money and awareness of the plight of Africa�s poverty-stricken population. That event, however, is just a blip on Geldof�s screen; he�s been an outspoken activist since he began to champion Africa in the 1980s.

On Tuesday, Oct. 24, Bob Geldof brought his story to Roger Williams as part of the University�s Civil Discourse Distinguished Lecture Series. His talk, �The Journey of Sir Bob Geldof,� (Queen Elizabeth knighted him 1986 for his international relief efforts), discussed his rise to fame, his transformation into a political activist and his global charity efforts.

Mr. Geldof first found fame in the mid �70s as the lead singer of the Boomtown Rats, an Irish rock group and leader in the punk movement. As the punk movement lost steam in 1984, Mr. Geldof turned his attention to Africa to decry the devastating famine gripping Ethiopia. Vowing to make a difference, Mr. Geldof formed the group Band Aid with other British and Irish musicians and cut a charity single, �Do They Know It�s Christmas?,� raising millions of dollars for famine relief in the horn of Africa. The song inspired an American spin-off by a superstar team of musicians who joined to make �We Are The World.�

In 1985, Mr. Geldof then enlisted help from leading rock stars to launch Live Aid, a massive charity concert that reached a worldwide television audience of more than 1 billion. In 2005, he reprised his efforts with Live 8, a series of 10 free concerts organized globally to raise millions for international relief efforts in Africa.