Live Aid turns 40 this year. On July 13th 1985, one of the most famous concerts ever took place, with performances split between London’s Wembley Stadium and the JFK Stadium in Philadelphia.
It was fronted and organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, staged to raise funds to support Ethiopia following a famine in which hundreds of thousands of people died.
The Live Aid concert itself raised more than £100 million, and became a live music icon in its own right.
Back in 1985 a ticket to Live Aid at London’s Wembley Stadium cost £5, with a £20 charity donation bolted on. Later this month Oasis are playing at the stadium, and while the cheapest tickets sold for around £74, dynamic pricing meant those costs rapidly rocketed into the hundreds.
1985 was a different era, but Live Aid featured countless acts still regarded as all-time classics. Much like the recent Black Sabbath farewell show in Birmingham, the bands and singers only got to play a small clutch of songs. And once they ran off stage, they’d be replaced by another musical legend just minutes later.
Our favourite bit of trivia is how one act actually played in both London and Philadelphia, less than 12 hours apart. Phil Collins jumped on Concorde, a now-discontinued plane so fast it only took three hours to travel from London Heathrow to New York City — the rest of the journey made in a helicopter.
For more behind-the-scenes stories from the day, check out the Live Aid at 40 content the Wembley Stadium website has just published, including interviews with some of the staff who were there on the day.
But who were the best acts of the night? There can only be number one. Queen’s Live Aid set has gone down in legend as one of the greatest of all time. But the band wasn’t the only one to rock the stage...
5. U2
When? 17:19pm
The set list
- Sunday Bloody Sunday
- Bad
Say what you like about U2, and we’ve said plenty over the years, but the band’s extended version of Bad during Live Aid is simply stunning.
The audacity of playing a 12-minute song during a set that only amounts to 17 minutes total? It’s bold stuff. Bono was just 25 at the time, sporting a gigantic mullet he now says means he finds the set excruciating to watch. But look at that volume.
4. Madonna
When? 21:27pm
The Set list
- Holiday
- Into the Groove
- Love Makes the World go Around (w/The Thompson Twins)
The Philadelphia side of Live Aid often gets forgotten when lists of the best performances come out. But we think Madonna deserves a shout-out, and her set has aged far more gracefully than most.
If you can’t see the Madonna inspiration in today's superstar acts like Charli xcx, you’re not looking hard enough. And, as her Live Aid set proves, Holiday and Into the Groove are all-time pop bangers.
3. Paul McCartney (and friends)
When? 21:51pm
The set list
- Let it Be
McCartney only played one song during Live Aid, but it was a pretty powerful moment, even as seen on YouTube in 2025. Well, until Pete Townsend started pratting away in the background...
Live Aid saw its fair share of out of tune vocals (and guitars) but McCartney sounds fantastic sat at the piano here. There is a reason for that, though. The concert was plagued by sound and technical issues, and McCartney’s microphone actually cut out part-way through his performance. His vocals as heard today were actually re-recorded the following day.
2. David Bowie
When? 19:23pm
The set list
- TVC15
- Rebel Rebel
- Modern Love
- Heroes
According to Bob Geldof, it was actually David Bowie’s performance of Heroes and his introduction of a charity video clip that set the donation phone lines alight, not Queen’s legendary set beforehand.
Thankfully, Bowie did not play any songs from this 1984 album Tonight, which isn’t one of his classics, instead sticking to 1970s hits bar Modern Love from his Let’s Dance LP released a couple of years earlier.
1. Queen
When? 18:41pm
The set list
- Bohemian Rhapsody
- Radio Ga Ga
- Hammer to Fall
- Crazy Little Thing Called Love
- We Will Rock You
- We Are the Champions
A performance so iconic it became the focal point for Bohemian Rhapsody, the most successful musical biopic of all time. Queen also had one of the longest sets in the entire Live Aid concert, with 21 minutes spent on stage.
As well as featuring some of Queen’s greatest songs, Freddie Mercury’s mastery of the stage is unparalleled. If you’re going for a re-watch, don’t forget to check out Freddie Mercury and Brian May’s encore performance of Is This The World We Created.
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