In 1971, George Harrison made history after planning and performing in the first-ever major benefit concert. The Concert for Bangladesh, which was planned by Harrison and Ravi Shankar, raised money for the refugees of the Bangladesh Liberation War. In total, the grand act of philanthropy reportedly raised $17 million. On this day, February 9, 1982, George Harrison delivered nine of that $17 million to UNICEF.
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The Concert for Bangladesh is arguably one of the most influential concerts of all time. Due to the framework and the success of the concert, Harrison and Shankar opened the gates for benefit concerts such as Live Aid, Farm Aid, and musician and cause-specific concerts. With two shows on a single day, the lineup featured Harrison, Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Shankar, and several other musicians.
In addition to the ticket sales, the concert raised money through its live album sales and concert film. By 1985, the concert and all of its non-profit assets raised $12 million. Now, you might be asking why Harrison delivered the $9 million 11 years after the concert. Well, that is because the funds had been held up for a decade due to tax issues.
The Overall Legacy of The Concert for Bangladesh
While the main aim was to, of course, raise money for refugees, the impact of the concert was further immortalized by the release of the live album. Released on December 20, 1971, The Concert for Bangladesh, landed at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Furthermore, it went on to win the Grammy for Album of the Year. Most importantly, the sales from the album generated roughly $15 million of the total $17 million.
Concerning the impact of the concert, Harrison once stated, “The more I read about it and understood what was going on, I thought, ‘Well, we’ve just got to do something,’ and it had to be very quickly,” per George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters. “And what we did, really, was only to point it out. That’s what I felt,” he added.
The Concert for Bangladesh is truly one of the most influential concerts of all time, and that is putting it lightly. While most concerts are revered merely for their music, Harrison and Shankar’s isn’t. While the music was certainly great, the more notable attribute is how this impacted celebrity and musical philanthropy. Nowadays, every celebrity has a charity and puts on benefit shows. Though before Harrison, this level of philanthropy was not the norm, thankfully, he made it so.
Photo by Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images
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