Remembering the Live Aid Concert - 40 years on
A Live Aid t-shirt being raised in the crowd at JFK Stadium; Photography by Barbara Kinney / USA Today; NPA BAA 1499.
For a generation of music fans, the experience of watching Live Aid on 13 July 1985 was an occasion like no other.
Held in two venues - Wembley Stadium, London, and JFK Stadium, Philadelphia - and attended by over 150,000 audience members in total, the live television broadcast of the “Global Jukebox” used cutting edge technology to unite almost 2 billion viewers across 150 countries in a shared experience and raised millions for famine relief in Africa.
The NLI will host a special event to mark the 40th Anniversary of Live Aid and the launch of online access to the Live Aid photographic archive, which is part of the Band Aid Trust Archive, generously donated to the NLI in by Bob Geldof in 2017.
Join our Director, Dr Audrey Whitty, music journalist and author, Andrew Wild and journalist, Bairbre Power, who attended Live Aid Wembley, as they share their thoughts, insights, and memories of an unforgettable day.
Andrew Wild is an experienced writer, music collector and film buff with many books to his name, including recent publications about The Beatles, Queen, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits and Crosby, Stills and Nash. He is the official biographer of the bands Twelfth Night and Galahad, as well as the artist and singer Geoff Mann. Andy's acclaimed two-volume study of the UK's vivid progressive rock scene in the UK during the 1980's, for which he interviewed 85 musicians, was published by Kingmaker in 2024 and 2025. He is currently working with the band Big Big Train on a book that tell the stories behind every song in their 30-year back catalogue. He lives in Rainow, Cheshire, UK.
Bono on stage at Wembley, crowd in the background; Photography by Dave Hogan; NPA BAA75.
Rick Springfield reaching into the audience while on stage at JFK Stadium; Photograph by Paul Natkin; NPA BAA1250.
Bob Geldof, George Michael, David Bowie and Bono during the finale at Wembley; Photograph by All-Action Photographic; NPA BAA203.
Bob Geldof performing at Wembley, with Live Aid logo in the background; Photograph by Steve Rapport; NPA BAA189.
If our team can be of any assistance, please contact us on learning@nli.ie.