Live Aid 40th Anniversary Celebrations
Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2025-06-30)
Forty years ago U2 were one of the acts that played at Live Aid, a concert to raise money and awareness for the famine in Ethiopia, held in Philadelphia and London. U2 had planned to play three songs, but an unplanned foray into the audience by Bono left U2 with time for two only.
Bono was devastated thinking he had screwed up U2’s big chance. Little did he know at the time that it would become a favourite moment for many. It’s a moment that still gets discussed.
We mentioned in May that there were plans to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the concerts. Below you’ll find information on these celebrations, expanded from our original listings.
Television
The big television event is a documentary being shown on both CNN and the BBC. On CNN it’s called Live Aid: When Rock ‘n’ Roll Took On the World and runs for four 44 minute episodes. On BBC it is called Live Aid at 40: When Rock ‘n’ Roll Took on the World and runs for three 60 minute episodes. But the docuseries is the same otherwise and is a joint presentation of both stations. It will feature interviews with many of the performers, both that day, as well as modern interviews looking back on the day. The trailer was released this week:
The show airs on BBC Two and the BBC iPlayer starting on July 13. The schedule announces the following descriptions, and it appears that all three episodes will air back to back on BBC, although a start time for the third episode is not given.
- Episode 1: July 6, 2025 21:00
“Bob Geldof organises a charity song for an Ethiopian famine, inspiring a global response.” - Episode 2: July 6, 2025 22:00
“Live Aid is the world’s biggest charity concert. Geldolf enters African charity politics.” - Episode 3: July 6, 2025
“Geldolf and Bono stage Live 8, pressuring leaders to tackle the roots of African poverty.”
On BBC the show will repeat on July 9 (Episode 1) and July 10 (Episode 2), both at 23:00. It isn’t clear when Episode 3 will air, although dated July 6, no time is given, and the logical slot after the first two episodes is filled with something else. It is possible this will air on July 13, the anniversary of the event.
On CNN, the schedule is a little different, and it will air in four parts, each a week apart. The first episode on CNN airs on July 13 at 9pm ET/PT, with the following episodes airing on July 20, 27 and August 3 at the same time.
Radio
A number of radio celebrations are planned between BBC and Greatest Hits Radio, both UK based platforms.
Live Aid Relived
Greatest Hits Radio (UK, Online)
Noon – 10pm, July 13, 2025
Airing at noon on July 13, 2025, this program will run 10 hours and air until 10pm that day. The special will be hosted by Simon Mayo, and will include commentary from Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet, who performed that day, as well as appearances by the cast of the Live Aid Musical, “Just for One Day”. The show will feature performances from the Wembley Stadium concert over the 10 hour programming block.
Live Aid: 40 Years On
Greatest Hits Radio (UK, Online)
10pm – 11pm, July 13, 2025
Directly following “Live Aid Relived”‘s ten-hour programming block comes a special looking back at Live Aid with interviews by Bob Geldof, Midge Ure, Brian May and Roger Taylor from Queen, as well at the promoter who took care of Live Aid, Harvey Goldsmith.
Live Aid: The Fans Story
BBC Radio 2
12am – 1am, July 13, 2025
This BBC Radio 2 special will be presented on Radio 2, and will be later available on BBC Sounds. The show, presented by Paul Gambaccini, features reflections on the original Live Aid concert by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure as well as other artists who played that day. There will also be stories told by fans who attended the concert.
Live Aid at 40
80s Central
8am, July 13, 2025
Just after we published today we got notice that 80s Central (80sCentral.com) will also be streaming a 10-hour, commercial-free celebration called “Live Aid at 40”. It starts at 8AM ET on Sunday, July 13. It is advertised as “uninterrupted and in real time from both Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia.” (Thanks Todd for the heads up!)
Releases
There is a Live Aid musical that has been running for a while now. The musical features music that was performed that day to tell the story of Live Aid. The music is new arrangements of songs and performed by the cast of the musical.
On July 11, the original cast recording, Just for One Day: The Live Aid Musical will be released. It will be available on two CDs, two vinyl, or digital releases. On that recording U2’s “Bad” is covered by the cast of the musical. It only runs 03:58, so it won’t be a complete recreation of U2’s performance that day. Anyone interested can find out more about the original cast recording here.
Live Events
“Just for One Day: The Live Aid Musical”
The musical mentioned above is having a special 40th anniversary performance of the musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, where the show is playing. The anniversary performance starts at 4pm, on July 13. Tickets are available here.
“Live Aid 40: Music, Power & Unity” Exhibition
The British Music Experience in Liverpool is hosting a temporary exhibit celebrating the 40th anniversary of Live Aid. This exhibition features materials taken from the personal archives of Bob Geldof. This one is open now, and runs from June 5 to January 4, 2026. More information is available here.
“Remembering the Live Aid Concert” Archive
This event, held at the National Library of Ireland, is being held to launch the Live Aid photographic archive, which will be hosted by the Library. This exhibit features photography donated to the NLI by Bob Geldof. This event will be hosted by the director of the NLI, Dr. Audrey Whitty, and Bairbre Power, a journalist who attended Live Aid at Wembley. The event is July 10, and runs from 6:30 – 7:45pm. More about the event can be found here.
Other Bits
PBS recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of Live Aid with their own look at the concert. The 27 minute look at Live Aid was part of You Oughta Know, and featured John Oates, Midge Ure and others. This one focuses more on the US show in Philadelphia. You can view the piece here.
The announcement of the 40th anniversary content back in May also announced that BBC Two would be airing something called “Live Aid the Concert” but we have been able to find little information about it to date. The description provided in May? “BBC Two gives viewers a chance to relive over 6.5 hours of extended highlights from London and Philly concerts.” We’ll keep our eyes out for it, and will update here if anything is announced. We’ll also continue to update as other celebrations are announced.
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