Bernard Watson (born David Weinstein, 1967) is an American singer and guitarist, who was the opening act at the American leg of the

Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...

concert in JFK Stadium, Philadelphia on July 13, 1985. An 18-year-old from

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

, 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 The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

. :''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 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. , Watson was continuing to write music, but was using his birth name rather than his stage name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Bernard People from Miami Beach, Florida Living people 1967 births