Houston holocaust museum honours Bob Geldof
Bob Geldof has been honoured by the Houston Holocaust Museum with a humanitarian award for his work organising 1985’s Live Aid concert.
Geldof, who received the 2006 Lyndon Baines Johnson Moral Courage Award last night at the museum’s annual dinner, told the audience that he was humbled by the award.
“I can honestly say I feel fraudulent standing here” among survivors of the Holocaust, he said.
“Their greatest triumph was that they defeated history. Their unique triumph is the grace with which they lived their lives.”
Geldof was inspired to organise the concert after he saw a nightly news broadcast on the Ethiopian famine.
“The next day I thought, this requires more than simply putting a pound in the charity box,” he said.
He composed Do They Know It’s Christmas and recorded it with friends he had made in the rock ’n’ roll business.
It became a massive hit. That recording led to Live Aid fundraising concerts in London and Philadelphia, which featured 60 top acts and a worldwide TV audience.
Since then, he has helped raise millions for African relief and along the way received numerous honours.
