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CNN Schedules Four-Part Live Aid Documentary for July 13 Debut

Featuring unreleased footage alongside commentary from performers such as Bono, the series examines the concerts’ role in famine relief through a then-groundbreaking global broadcast.

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FILE - Rick Springfield performs at Live Aid, a famine relief concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia Pa., Jon uly 13, 1985. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)
FILE - Led Zeppelin bandmates, singer Robert Plant, left, and guitarist Jimmy Page, perform for the Live Aid famine relief concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia on July 13, 1985. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)
FILE - John Oates, from left, G.E.Smith and Daryl Hall perform at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia for the Live Aid famine relief concert on July 13, 1985. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)

Overview

  • CNN’s four-part documentary “Live Aid: When Rock ‘n’ Roll Took on the World” will debut at 9 p.m. ET/PT on July 13, 2025.
  • The first episode revisits the July 1985 concerts at Wembley Stadium and JFK Stadium, with the second installment exploring the origins of the 1984 Band Aid single on July 20.
  • Newly unearthed archival footage captures the stark reality of Ethiopia’s famine and includes a moving reunion with a survivor profiled as a child during the original broadcasts.
  • Bob Geldof’s candid reflections are supplemented by fresh interviews with artists including Bono, Sting, Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor, plus Ultravox’s Midge Ure.
  • Episodes airing July 27 and August 3 will spotlight the hurdles of the 16-satellite global broadcast and trace the evolution of the cause into Live 8 in 2005.