Live Aid: The Definitive 40 Year Story

Live Aid: The Definitive 40 Year Story by Paul Vallely is a Classic Pop Music Book of the Year.

Featuring a foreword by Bob Geldof, this book provides the authoritative, official inside story of 40 years of Live Aid, from Band Aid to today.

In 1985, with over £100 million raised from Live Aid – the greatest rock concert the world had ever seen – Bob Geldof embarked on a journey across Africa to decide how to best utilise the funds for the Ethiopian famine. He invited Paul Vallely to join him. Over the next four decades, Vallely became one of Geldof’s closest advisers, travelling alongside him to meet the world’s top rock stars and politicians.

Here, for the first time, Vallely offers a full eye-witness account of those 40 years. The book, furnished with stories and insights, reveals how pop, poverty, politics, and power are interwoven in the Live Aid story. Geldof encounters presidents, prime ministers, and popes, as well as the pop icons who once adorned his bedroom wall. Whether it’s drinking late-night whisky with Margaret Thatcher, writing a grovelling apology to Bill Clinton, or meeting Vladimir Putin on a boat in the Mediterranean, Geldof’s journey is as diverse as it is compelling. He negotiates with The Who, persuades Pink Floyd, and is captivated by Bowie. Yet, questions remain: Is Bob Geldof a bully or a charmer, a saint or ‘white saviour’, or simply a force of nature?

But there’s more to this than just music. The journey from Live Aid to Live 8 evolved from giving money and calling for action to advocating for justice – and it was a journey that an entire generation took with him. Live 8 in 2005 marked the largest gathering in human history. Its eight simultaneous concerts created a monumental event which the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations could not ignore. It made a whole generation feel they could make a difference. In more ways than one, Live Aid rocked the world.