Hear 'n Aid

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Hear 'n Aid was a joint effort from the heavy metal scene of the 1980s to raise money for famine relief in Africa. According to Ronnie James Dio's MySpace profile, the project raised $1 million within a year.

Background

When attending a 48 hour charity Radiothon at the radio station KLOS, Jimmy Bain (of Rainbow and Dio) and Vivian Campbell (at that time still in Dio, later to play in Whitesnake and Def Leppard) noticed that the representation of heavy metal stars was scarce. In the light of the success of Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and USA for Africa's "We Are the World", they forwarded the idea to Ronnie James Dio, also attending the Radiothon, and they decided to make a similar project exclusively built on artists from the heavy metal scene.^{[citation needed]} Together the three co-wrote the song "Stars."

On May 20 & 21 1985, 40 artists gathered at the A&M Records Studio in Hollywood, California to record the Stars album. The project included members of such bands as Dio, Quiet Riot, Dokken, Iron Maiden, Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister, Queensrÿche, Blue Öyster Cult, and the parody band Spinal Tap.

Ronnie James Dio had intended for the song and album to be released shortly after its recording, but contractual issues with the different artists' record labels delayed the release until January 1, 1986, somewhat diminishing the impact of its release.^{[citation needed]}

Releases

• Hear 'n Aid - We're Stars (7" single)
• Hear 'n Aid - We're Stars (12" single)
• Hear 'n Aid - The Sessions (VHS)
• Hear 'n Aid - Sweatshirt
• Hear 'n Aid - Photo jersey
• Hear 'n Aid - T-shirt
• Hear 'n Aid - Bandana
• Hear 'n Aid - Official poster
• Hear 'n Aid - Button

Stars

1. Accept - "Up to the Limit" (live)
2. Motörhead - "On the Road" (live)
3. Rush - "Distant Early Warning" (live)
4. Kiss - "Heaven's on Fire" (live)
5. Jimi Hendrix - "Can You See Me"
6. Dio - "Hungry for Heaven" (live)
7. Y&T - "Go for the Throat"
8. Scorpions - "The Zoo" (live)

Participants

Sequel Project

There was a second planned song to benefit a charity that Ronnie James Dio has been involved in for years (Children of the Night), that benefits runaway children.^[1] This was to be a song called "Throw Away Children". However, due to various reasons the project never materialized, and the song ended up appearing on the 2002 Dio album, Killing the Dragon.

Notes