Artists About AIDS - The History

The project "Artists About AIDS" was launched in November 1993 during the taping of the ZDF Pop Show at Westfalenhalle in Dortmund in a very spontaneous and unplanned manner. But most of the times those ideas are the best:

For Red Ribbon Germany the ZDF Pop Show 1993 was the first public event. When the TV station crew became aware that we were present to distribute Red Ribbons, it was their idea to feature the AIDS awareness symbol during the broadcast as well. I have to add that the show was produced with the motto Gib AIDS keine Chance (Don't Give AIDS A Chance) which is why our premier of the Red Ribbon in Germany was a welcomed addition to the concept.

So we suddenly had the official order to persuade all artists performing at the show to wear a Red Ribbon on stage. Well, I liked the idea behind that and it also made me think about how I could turn this once in a lifetime opportunity to meet big stars such as Phil Collins, Take That, Paul Young, Bonnie Tyler, Melissa Etheridge, Die Toten Hosen and many more into something that would last a little longer. That's how the idea was born to collect a handwritten statement on the topic AIDS from all these stars in a special book.

After some minor problems in the beginning the idea went on and on by itself, and that's why today - after various phone conversations with record companies and management agencies - I can name a total of 236 celebrities as participants of my project "Artists About AIDS". Their statements are as diverse and individual as the different styles of music the participating artists call their own. And this is, apart from the profoundity of many entries, what makes the book appealing to us.