As the situation in South Africa got worse around the middle of the 1980s and the horrors being carried out by the white government in South Africa were being broadcast around the world, an emotional response grew: The music scene led the way by taking action to help the problems faced by South Africa. The Sun City Benefit Concert, which featured more than 50 international stars from pop and jazz including Bruce Springsteen and Miles Davis, was held as a protest against apartheid and was a huge success. Desmond Tutu was mentioned in the U2 song Silver and Gold (see the box below) and Miles Davis even named his album "Tutu" after him. The proceeds from the Sun City Benefit Project were used to help political prisoners and their families, to promote educational and cultural institutions and to support anti-apartheid groups.

U2's lead singer, Bono, from a spoken passage in the song Silver and Gold (from the album "Rattle and Hum", Island 1988):
"This song was written in a hotel room in New York City 'round about the time a friend of ours, Little Steven, was putting together a record of "Artists Against Apartheid". This is a song written about a man in a shanty town outside of Johannesburg. A man who's sick of looking down the barrel of white South Africa. A man who is at the point where he is ready to take up arms against his oppressor. A man who has lost faith in the peacemakers of the west while they argue and while they fail to support a man like Bishop Tutu and his request for economic sanctions against South Africa..."