Millions rock to Live 8 concerts

The biggest concert the world has ever seen finished in the early hours of Sunday morning as the Philadelphia Live 8 concert ended.

Around 160 top artists performed at 10 different venues around the world to put pressure on world leaders to help stop poverty in Africa.

At least 1.5 million people watched the event live and millions more tuned in to watch it on TV.

Bob Geldof said the day had been "full of hope and possibility and life".

Click here to see the stars perform in Hyde Park

The largest concert was held in London, where 200,000 people packed out Hyde Park.

A-list acts including Scissor Sisters, Snoop Dogg, Coldplay, Robbie Williams and Madonna took to the stage to perform for 15 minutes each to help get the anti-poverty message across.

Celebs such as David Beckham and Brad Pitt also helped out by introducing acts on stage.

Click here to hear read quotes from performers

Message

Live 8 in Hyde Park 5,000 roadies and caterers helped the show run smoothly At least 175 catering vans fed artists and crew Around 30,000 sausages, 40,000 bacon rashers and 60,000 eggs were eaten Over 1,400 toilets were set up

Bob Geldof sounded hopeful that the global gig was getting the message to leaders of the G8, due to meet in Edinburgh on Wednesday.

He said: "There's one plan. It's debt; trade and aid and governance. Prime, pump an economy, create good government and we'll get people out of poverty.

"That's what this is about. We'll jump if you jump and we're all jumping on behalf of those who can't even crawl."

Click here to see pics of kids at Live 8 London

More than 26.4 million people from around the world sent text messages during the concert to show their support of the Live 8 campaign to cancel the debts of the poorest countries, setting a world record, organisers said.

Global gigs

The concerts kicked off in Japan where McFly were one of the first acts on stage.

The action then moved around the globe to countries including France, Germany and South Africa where Nelson Mandela said Live 8 was an "historic opportunity to open the door to hope and the possibility of a better future for all".

Click here read about queuing for Live 8 London

Over in Philadelphia, Will Smith hosted the US concert, and was joined on stage by stars including Destiny's Child, Jay-Z and the Kaiser Chiefs.

The anti-poverty music marathon finally drew to a close in Philadelphia at about 3am UK time.