Hear 'n Aid

Hear 'n Aid was a joint effort from the heavy metal scene of the 80s to raise money for famine relief in Africa. Within a year, the project had raised $1 million.

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.Together the three cowrote 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, Iron Maiden, Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister, Queensrÿche, Blue Öyster Cult, Dokken, Night Ranger, Judas Priest, W.A.S.P., Rough Cutt, Journey, Y&T, Vanilla Fudge/King Kobra, 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.

Releases

*Hear 'n Aid - We're Stars (7" single)
*Hear 'n Aid - We're Stars (12" single)
*Hear 'n Aid - Stars (Album)
#Hear 'n Aid - "Stars"
#Accept - "Up to the Limit" (live)
#Motörhead - "On the Road" (live)
#Rush - "Distant Early Warning" (live)
#Kiss - "Heaven's on Fire" (live)
#Jimi Hendrix - "Can You See Me"
#Dio - "Hungry for Heaven" (live)
#Y&T - "Go for the Throat"
#Scorpions - "The Zoo" (live)
*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

Participants

Vocals

*Eric Bloom (Blue Öyster Cult)
*Ronnie James Dio (Dio)
*Don Dokken (Dokken)
*Kevin DuBrow (Quiet Riot)
*Rob Halford (Judas Priest)
*Dave Meniketti (Y&T)
*Paul Shortino (Rough Cutt)
*Geoff Tate (Queensrÿche)

Backing Vocals

*Tommy Aldridge (Ozzy Osbourne)
*Dave Alford (Rough Cutt)
*Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge/King Kobra)
*Vinny Appice (Dio)
*Jimmy Bain (Dio)
*Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot)
*Mick Brown (Dokken)
*Vivian Campbell (Dio)
*Carlos Cavazo (Quiet Riot)
*Amir Derakh (Rough Cutt)
*Buck Dharma (Blue Öyster Cult)
*Brad Gillis (Night Ranger)
*Craig Goldy (Giuffria)
*Chris Hager (Rough Cutt)
*Chris Holmes (W.A.S.P.)
*Blackie Lawless (W.A.S.P.)
*George Lynch (Dokken)
*Yngwie Malmsteen
*Mick Mars (Mötley Crüe)
*Dave Murray (Iron Maiden)
*Vince Neil (Mötley Crüe)
*Ted Nugent
*Eddie Ojeda (Twisted Sister)
*Jeff Pilson (Dokken)
*David St. Hubbins (Spinal Tap)
*Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot)
*Claude Schnell (Dio)
*Neal Schon (Journey)
*Derek Smalls (Spinal Tap)
*Mark Stein (Vanilla Fudge)
*Matt Thorr (Rough Cutt)
*Adrian Vandenberg (Whitesnake)

Lead Guitar Solos

*Vivian Campbell (Dio)
*Carlos Cavazo (Quiet Riot)
*Buck Dharma {Blue Öyster Cult)
*Brad Gillis (Night Ranger)
*Craig Goldy (Giuffria)
*George Lynch (Dokken)
*Yngwie Malmsteen
*Eddie Ojeda (Twisted Sister)
*Neal Schon (Journey)

Rhythm Guitar Melody Lines

*Dave Murray (Iron Maiden)
*Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden)

Bass

*Jimmy Bain (Dio)

Drums

*Vinny Appice (Dio)
*Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot)

Keyboards

*Claude Schnell (Dio)

Sequel Project

There was a second planned song to benefit a charity that Ronnie has been involved in for years (Children of the Night) [http://www.childrenofthenight.org/] , that benefits runaway children. 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.