A concert event held on June 11, 1988 at the Wembley Stadium, London. Also known as Free Nelson Mandela Concert or Mandela Day.

This concert was both a birthday celebration and the perhaps biggest protest action for an imprisoned person to date. 72.000 people at the Wembley Stadium and more than 600 Million viewers on television from 60 countries have watched the show which belongs besides Live Aid to the most successful music events on television of the 1980s.

Trivia

It marks the first television performance for Tracy Chapman who has her first hits with Talking About A Revolution and Fast Car in 1988.

The Song Mandela Day by Jim Kerr was written as tribute for that concert and recorded there for the very first time. It was later released on the album Streetfighting Years and became a #1-hit (as B-side of the single "Belfast Child") at the British Charts in 1989.

Artists

Simple Minds, Meatloaf, Little Steven, Bee Gees, Salt-N-Pepa, Mahlatini & The Mahotella Queens, Eurythmics, Farafina, Grupo Experimental de Dansa, Fry & Laurie, Aswad, Dire Straits, Wet Wet Wet, Sly & Robbie, Ashford and Simpson, Arnhem Land Dance Troupe, Fish, Amapondo, Amabutho, Fat Boys, IDJ Dancers, UB40, Bryan Adams, Joan Armatrading, Sir Richard Attenborough, Derek B, H. B. Barnum, Jennifer Beals, Harry Belafonte, Corbin Bernsen, Jackson Browne, Jonathan Butler, Paul Carrack, Tracy Chapman, Graham Chapman, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Natalie Cole, Phil Collins, Billy Connolly, Jerry Dammers, Harry Enfield, Peter Gabriel, Richard Gere, Whoopi Goldberg, Al Green, Jonas Gwangwa, Tony Hadley, Daryl Hannah, Lenny Henry, Gregory Hines, Whitney Houston, Chrissie Hynde, Freddie Jackson, Mick Karn, Salif Keita, Mark Kelly, Ray Lema, Emily Lloyd, Miriam Makeba, Johnny Marr, Hugh Masekela, Ali McGraw, George Michael, Philip Michael Thomas, Youssou N’Dour, Jessye Norman, Steve Norman, Michael Palin, Courtney Pine, David Sanborn, Curt Smith, Sting, Midge Ure, Denzel Washington, Stevie Wonder, Paul Young

References

Article on the Concert

Rock festivals | Concerts