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Live Aid’s 40th Anniversary Gala Unites Organizers as Legacy Is Reexamined

Original Live Aid organizers reunited at a London gala, clarifying key historical details to assess the event’s modern-day resonance.

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. 
- Princess Diana, left, and Prince Charles attend the Live Aid concert as they acknowledge the crowd with event organizer Bob Geldof, right, at London’s Wembley Stadium, on July 13, 1985.
The Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium, London, England, on July 13, 1985. From left are George Michael of Wham, Bob Geldolf, Bono of U2, Freddie Mercury of Queen, Helena Springs (backup singer for David Bowie), Andrew Ridgley of Wham! and Howard Jones. The full concert is now streaming online, and new CNN and BBC documentaries exploring its legacy.
Tina Turner and Mick Jagger perform together at the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia in this July 13, 1985.

Overview

  • The star-studded gala at the Shaftesbury Theatre brought Bob Geldof, Midge Ure and Brian May together for performances and commemorative reflections.
  • Bob Geldof told The New York Times that it was David Bowie’s Live Aid set—not Queen’s—that caused the telephone lines to collapse and triggered the biggest donation surge.
  • Midge Ure explained on Good Morning Britain that today’s mobile phones and internet-driven media landscape make a unified global concert like Live Aid impossible to replicate.
  • The West End musical Just For One Day continues its run through January 2026, dramatizing the 1985 concerts and featuring archive footage and interviews.
  • BBC and CNN have aired new 40th-anniversary documentaries revisiting Live Aid’s record-breaking $140 million fundraising and its 1.5 billion-viewer global broadcast.