U2 - Live Aid

Bono and U2 will make the most of any size platform given them. Not everybody knew that when drummer Larry Mullen Jr. counted off Sunday Bloody Sunday at London's Wembley Stadium, but they sure did 17 minutes later, when the band left the stage. During a 12-minute rendition of Bad that incorporated bits of Lou Reed and Rolling Stones songs, Bono climbed down from the stage to help security guards extricate three girls from the crush of the crowd. That bit of improvisation cost the band the chance to play its lone U.S. Top 40 hit, Pride (In the Name of Love), but it vaulted the group to a new career stratus.