This event marked the first performance by the classic "Dark Side of the Moon" lineup of Pink Floyd (Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright) since their acrimonious breakup in 1985. The breakup itself was four years after their last public performance in 1981. With Wright's death in 2008, it is also the final time the four men performed together.
The event was simulcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks.
50 Cent was scheduled to perform but had to back out because he was filming Fique Rico ou Morra Tentando (2005).
The band Franz Ferdinand were asked to perform but guitarist Nick McCarthy's wedding was planned for that day.
This was the first global broadcast to be formatted in the HD TV standard.