Phil Lynott & Live Aid

Does anyone else think Phil Lynott being snubbed by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure for Live Aid was an awful betrayal by supposed friends?

Fair enough Lynott was in a bad place with drugs at the time (as were many other live aid performers) and was certainly in commercial decline, but surely they could have given him a five minute slot early in the day. Heck Midge Ure even deputised as Thin Lizzy guitarist at one stage.

Dare I say that missing out on Live Aid may even have sent him deeper into addiction/depression. For such a proud "rockstar" his ego must have been badly bruised.

 

The crowd at Wembley would have went nuts if the Jailbreak line-up came out and did three songs.

 

A little more info here:

Phil Lynott 'was devastated after Live Aid omission'

 

"...tonnes of Irish bands." Ha ha. Dem crazy Europeans. When are they ever gonna learn proper English?

 

Would have cut into precious Phil Collins time.

D.D.

 

I think it was the simple fact that Phil had waned from the public eye and obviously per @Murph 's link above, Midge Ure mentioned that Phil never crossed he and Bob's minds when they were rallying together artists' and musicians for the huge event/benefit. It would've been cool if Phil and Gary had done something together as they had been working on some material that wound up on '85's Run for Cover release in Military Man and Out in the Fields. Phil's health, though, was rather detrimental at this stage and I'm still amazed that he managed to keep on working up until before that Christmas when he fell gravely ill. I don't think the snub was intentional at all, I think it was just a design of circumstance, plain and simple.

Just a quick thought: If Phil had wisely taken a break after Lizzy's final gigs in September of '83, the man could've taken stock of himself and perhaps, could've lived for at least another decade to have seen through an eventual Lizzy reunion, unfortunately, it just didn't happen. His lack of regard for his own mortality was his ultimate undoing. Very Sad.

 

I agree with @SonicBob on this. Philip/Thin Lizzy was simply not “high profile” enough to be considered. The same could be said for The Boomtown Rats (but that’s a different story when your lead singer is the chief organiser of the event).

There was a nice tribute to Philip the following year at the “Self Aid” event in Dublin. I thought that the tribute was one of the highlights of the day.

 

Tons is slang for lots over here. Just like faucet is slang for tap over there.

 

I think you missed the irony in my post. Can't blame you. It's easy to do on-line.

 

In an interview Thin Lizzy keyboard player Darren Wharton expressed his regrets about the band not being asked to perform at the event:

"I think that was a tragic, tragic decision. It could've been and it should've been the turning point for Phil (Lynott). And I think that really did Phil in quite a lot, that we were never asked to play. I mean Phil, had a few problems at the time, but at the end of the day, if he would've been asked to play Live Aid, that would've been a goal for him to clean himself up to do that gig. We were all very upset of the fact that we weren't asked to do it. Because as you say, it was Geldof and Midge who Phil knew very well. I was surprised that we weren't asked to do that. That would've been the turning point, you know, definitely. I don't think Phil ever forgave Bob and Midge for that really."