PROGRAMMING NOTE: Watch CNN Original Series “Live Aid: When Rock ’n’ Roll Took On the World,” celebrating the definitive story of how two rockstars inspired the largest global music events in history.

I can’t recall much about the summer of 1985, but I do remember July 13. That morning 40 years ago, I flipped on my family’s old Zenith television to look at Live Aid, the fund-raiser for famine ...

That image of Freddie Mercury still lingers. In a white chest-hugging vest, the frontman of rock band Queen had energetically pranced around London’s Wembley Stadium stage, belting out the hits Radio ...