The inaugural Farm Aid concert took place on this day in 1985 in Champaign, Illinois. The idea of staging a benefit concert to help family farms facing tough times was said to have been something Willie Nelson enlisted John Mellencamp and Neil Young to help him put on because Bob Dylan had remarked that he hoped some of the money raised at the Live Aid concert staged earlier that summer could be used to help farmers at risk for foreclosure. Ironically, Dylan's last name was misspelled on the poster for the event, which took place at the University of Illinois Memorial Stadium with a crowd of 80,000 on hand to hear performances by the hosts, Dylan, Tom Petty, Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffett, John Fogerty, Charlie Daniels, Foreigner, Sammy Hagar, Don Henley, Joni Mitchell, Lou Reed, Bonnie Raitt, Eddie Van Halen, B.B. King, and dozens more. The 12 hour concert raised more than $9 million.
Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on September 22 include...
1951 Deep Purple & Whitesnake's David Coverdale born.
1960 Joan Jett born.
1962 Bob Dylan plays at a Hootenanny concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
1965 Grace Slick and The Great Society do their first live performance in North Beach, California.
1965 Roger Daltrey slugs Keith Moon during a Who concert in Scandinavia.
1969 Story in University Of Illinois student newspaper starts Paul McCartney is dead rumors.
1972 David Bowie opens US Ziggy Stardust tour in Cleveland.
1975 George Harrison releases Extra Texture.
1979 Joe Walsh announces presidential candidacy.
1989 Bob Dylan releases Oh Mercy.
1990 Creedence Clearwater Revival's Tom Fogerty dies of TB.
1999 Bono meets with the Pope.
2005 Jimmy Page's work aiding homeless children in Rio de Janeiro earns him honorary citizenship there.
2009 Pearl Jam releases Backspacer.
2014 Aaron Lewis escapes injury when chartered jet skids off runway of Texas airport.
2017 Van Morrison releases Roll With The Punch.
2015 Bruce Springsteen joins Jackson Browne on two songs during Red Bank, NJ concert.
