Uniting the world.

Bob Geldof and Phil Collins are among those recalling the phenomenal musical fundraiser

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On 13 July 1985, two iconic fundraising concerts were held simultaneously at London’s Wembley Stadium and Philadelphia's John F. Kennedy Stadium with the biggest names in music taking part.

Live Aid, the brainchild of The Boomtown Rats' Bob Geldof and Ultravox’s Midge Ure, was organised to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia and around two billion people across the world tuned in to watch legends including David Bowie, Queen, U2, The Who, Sir Paul McCartney, Madonna, Tina Turner and Sir Mick Jagger perform.

BBC2’s three-part documentary Live Aid at 40 marks the historic event, which raised an unprecedented £150 million, and explores the legacy of the fundraising initiative. It features exclusive interviews with Geldof and Ure and many of the performers, as well as survivors of the famine, Ethiopian ministers and global politicians. The series also goes behind the scenes of the 1984 Band Aid charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas? and the subsequent Live 8 concerts of 2005.

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