This July 13th, World Rock Day is celebrated in Brazil. Despite the name, the commemorative date is unique to our country's official calendar thanks to radio stations dedicated to the musical style and a request from Phil Collins at the Live Aid festival .
The date was chosen because it marks the event of the largest and most important music festival in history. Organized by Bob Geldof , Live Aid took place on this date in 1985 with dozens of artists.
Performances by music icons took place simultaneously in two cities: Wembley Stadium in London and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, with a total audience of over 160,000 people and a live broadcast to an estimated audience of 1.9 billion people in 150 different countries.
Besides pop stars like Madonna , rock and metal bands and artists performed on both stages, including Black Sabbath , Judas Priest, U2, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Sting, The Who, Elton John, Paul McCartney , and Queen . They were all gathered there to raise funds for the fight against famine in Ethiopia. It was on this legendary occasion that Phil Collins made a suggestion: from that day forward, July 13th should be considered World Rock Day!
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“What really happened was that nobody outside took Phil Collins’ idea of declaring July 13th World Rock Day seriously,” wrote singer and radio host Kid Vinil in a column published on Yahoo! in 2010, as retrieved by SP da Garoa . Even ignored in the rest of the world, the idea found supporters in two São Paulo radio stations that were born with programming focused on rock: 97 FM and 89 FM, created in 1983 and 1985, respectively.
Given the scope of the project, both radio stations included the date in their programming as World Rock Day throughout the 1990s, a decision that was quickly embraced by bands and artists of the genre in the country. Interestingly, both stations would change their focus over the years and, currently, only 89 FM has returned to the position of "the Rock Radio," while 97 FM has a schedule geared towards electronic music.
According to O Globo , some music experts disagree with the choice and advocate for other historical events to be celebrated, such as the Beatles in the United States on February 11, 1964, or the recording of Elvis Presley on July 5, 1954.
Without a doubt, there's no shortage of icons to honor in the history of this musical style and way of life, such as the pioneers Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Chuck Berry . Regardless of the controversies, every day is rock day!
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