Bernard Watson

Bernard Watson (born David Weinstein, 1967)[1] is an American singer and guitarist, who was the opening act at the American leg of the Live Aid concert in JFK Stadium, Philadelphia on July 13, 1985.

Bernard Watson
Bernard Watson - Live Aid - July 13, 1985 - Philadelphia, PA - Photo By Sam Cali
Background information
Birth nameDavid Weinstein
Born1967
OriginFlorida, USA

An 18-year-old from Miami Beach, he had just graduated from high school and had no professional musical experience. After sleeping outside the stadium for a week, he persuaded the concert's producer Bill Graham, in the spirit of charity, to let him perform. Graham relented, and Watson (who took his stage name from Bernard Marx and Helmholz Watson, two characters from Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World") took the stage at 8:51am (EDT).

Watson sang two songs: Bob Dylan's "All I Really Want To Do" and an original composition called "Interview", accompanying himself on guitar and harmonica.

One of the strings on my guitar broke, then I dropped the pick and that wasn't very professional. But I felt happy that I got a chance. I'd like to make it in this business. It was the dream of a lifetime. That's what it was. Bernard Watson[2]

Watson's contribution is not on the official DVD set; supposedly the only known copy of the footage is in the possession of Watson himself, although footage of his performance taken from a WPLG news report is available on YouTube.[3] As of 2015, Watson was continuing to write music, but was using his birth name rather than his stage name.[4]

References

  1. "Bernard Watson". LiveAid.Free.Fr. Archived from the original on 31 December 2005. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  2. "Live Aid". Spokesman-Review. AP. 14 July 1985. p. A8. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  3. "Bernard Watson: The Full Performance (WPLG-10 - Miami, Florida)". YouTube. March 9, 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  4. "Meet David Weinstein, the 18-year-old kid who opened Live Aid". 13 July 2015.
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