A documentary celebrating 40 years of Live Aid has received widespread praise on social media.
Airing on BBC Two on Sunday (6 July), the three-part series, Live Aid at 40: When Rock and Roll Took on the World, follows the legacy of Band Aid, Live Aid and Live 8 “in reshaping charity and politics”.
Organised by Bob Geldof, the concert raised over $127m (£109m) for famine relief in Ethiopia in 1985. Over one billion people watched the broadcast across 100 countries.
Featuring archival footage, the first episode follows Geldof as he formed supergroup Band Aid to release the single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, a second episode covers the creation of the historic concert Live Aid (including Geldof’s reservations about having Queen perform at the gig), while the finale follows the creation of Live 8.
Viewers were filled with nostalgia as they reflected on “one of the most important moments in TV history” when BBC journalist Michael Buerk’s report on the Ethiopian famine sparked Geldof’s desire to set up charitable causes.
“Michael Buerk's Ethiopia report was one of the most important moments in TV history,” wrote one person on X/Twitter. “Showed the world what was happening and was pivotal in inspiring the idea of Band Aid and leading to Live Aid.”
“The Live Aid at 40 documentary is incredible,” wrote another. “The interviews with Ethiopian people involved at the time including famine victims are superb. I remember it so well...”
Others, who were present at the time when the initiatives were created, said: “Watching #LiveAid40 evokes such incongruous emotions. Nostalgia – the magnitude of it all, Geldof's manic energy, the brilliant music; and then the despair of children still shamefully and needlessly starving 40 years later. Have we really learned anything?”
Despite divided opinions on Geldof, who recently hit out at claims he was a “white saviour”, the Boomtown Rats musician was lauded as an “absolute genius” for his legacy.
“This looked extraordinary at the time, having two concerts on both sides of the Atlantic,” said one viewer. “Even if he was a bit of a bore, Bob Geldof was still an absolute genius for putting this altogether.”
One person called the first two episodes “profoundly moving”.
“I laughed, cried and had goosebumps,” wrote one social media user. “Love or loathe Geldof, what he has done was incredible. He got angry and acted. Bono saying he can’t look at his performance because he had a mullet was hilarious.”
