SERIES / 1979

Music for UNICEF Concert

The Music for UNICEF Concert: A Gift of Song was a benefit concert of popular music held in the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on January 9, 1979. It was intended to raise money for UNICEF world hunger programs and to mark the beginning of the International Year of the Child. The concert was videotaped and broadcast the following day on NBC in the U.S. and around the world. The moderator was David Frost, with Gilda Radner and Henry Winkler also introducing some of the performers. Henry Fonda made a short appearance. Each performer signed a large parchment declaring support for UNICEF's goals. The concert was the idea of impresario Robert Stigwood, the Bee Gees, and David Frost, who originally conceived it as an annual event. Not all of the performances were truly live, with ABBA lip-synching their new song "Chiquitita" and the Bee Gees lip-synching their song "Too Much Heaven". It raised less than one million dollars at the time for UNICEF, although this figure did not include longer-term royalties from the songs and repeat performances.