I hope tonight’s gig will have the same galvanising effect as the 1988 Nelson Mandela concert – and give people courage to speak out about Gaza

In the summer of 1988 the music festival producer Tony Hollingsworth organised a concert at Wembley Stadium in London to celebrate the 70th birthday of Nelson Mandela. He offered the BBC the rights to broadcast it live, but the corporation was nervous. Mandela had been in jail since 1962 and, to the extent that he was a well-known figure, he had been branded a “terrorist”. Hollingsworth met BBC executive Alan Yentob, who was wavering. “Alan,” Tony said, “you’ve got to bite the bullet.” Eventually Yentob agreed, replying: “I’ll give you five hours. If the bill improves, I’ll increase the time.”

Conservative MPs were soon organising a parliamentary motion, deploring the BBC’s editorial decision. Opponents of Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) were right to be worried about the concert. The event was broadcast to a global audience of 600 million people, it made Mandela a household name around the world and, in all probability, hastened his release. Oliver Tambo, then president of the ANC, told Hollingsworth the concert was “the greatest single event we have undertaken in support of the struggle.”

Brian Eno is a musician, artist, composer and producer