Latest news with #LiveAid:WhenRock'n'RollTookontheWorld
News18
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- News18
U2's Bono Regrets One Thing About His 1985 Live Aid Charity Concert
Last Updated: In the Live Aid: When Rock 'n' Roll Took on the World documentary, U2's Bono was seen taking a trip down memory lane and revisiting one of the biggest moments in his career. Paul David Hewson, popularly known as Bono, is one of the most iconic names in rock music. Alongside Bob Geldof, Sting, Patti LaBelle, and others Bono was one of the organisers of Live Aid, the largest global music event in history benefiting famine relief in Ethiopia. Bono, with his band U2, performed at the event that raised billions of dollars for the cause. In the Live Aid: When Rock 'n' Roll Took on the World documentary, U2's Bono was seen taking a trip down memory lane and revisiting one of the biggest moments in his career. Being one of the organisers of Live Aid, which took place in 1985, Bono performed in front of billions of people, and 40 years later the rockstar still regrets his bad hair day. Reflecting on the historic day, Bono shared in the documentary how his hairstyle ruined the biggest day of his career. 'I can't look back at this moment with two eyes because it was such a bad hair day… Honestly, one of the most famous moments of your life and your activism, you have got a mullet," the 65-year-old rock star revealed in the documentary. The Live Aid: When Rock 'n' Roll Took on the World documentary premiered on BBC on July 6 and debuted on CNN a week later on July 13, exactly 40 years after the historic Live Aid event took place at London's Wembley Stadium as well as Philadelphia's John F. Kennedy Stadium on July 13, 1985. An estimated 1.9 billion people, nearly 40% of the global population at that time, watched the concert organised by influential artists from the music industry as well as politicians. 40 years ago, Bono performed a quick set with his band U2 alongside a group rendition of Do They Know It's Christmas? With Wham's George Michael, Queen's Freddie Mercury, and The Beatles' Paul McCartney, among others. The logline of the documentary states, 'Live Aid: When Rock 'n' Roll Took on the World tells the definitive story of how two rockstars inspired the largest global music events in history." The four-part documentary features interviews with the organisers, including Bono, Sting, Bob Geldof, Patti LaBelle, Lionel Richie, and Phil Collins, alongside global leaders like George W. Bush, Tony Blair, President Obasanjo, and Condoleezza Rice. First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
New York Post
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Bono reveals his 1 big regret from 1985 Live Aid performance: ‘I can't look back'
The mullet's not for everyone. In the new documentary 'Live Aid: When Rock 'n' Roll Took on the World' documentary, Bono admitted that he regrets his hair choice during U2's performance at Live Aid in 1985. 'I can't look back at this moment with two eyes because it was such a bad hair day,' Bono said. Advertisement 8 Bono performs at Live Aid 1985. Redferns 'Honestly, it's one of the most famous moments of your life and your activism, you've got a mullet,' the Irish rocker added. The charity concert was held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia on July 13, 1985 to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Advertisement 8 Adam Clayton and Bono perform live onstage at Live Aid in July 1985. Redferns 8 Bono performs with other musical acts during the finale of Live Aid. Getty Images 8 Live Aid organizer Bob Geldof onstage with Bono. Redferns Around 1.9 billion people from 150 countries — nearly 40 percent of the world population — tuned into the global event. Advertisement Performers included U2, Freddie Mercury, Elton John, The Who, David Bowie, Paul Young, Sting, Phil Collins, Paul McCartney, the Beach Boys, Madonna, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Tina Turner, Bob Dylan and more. During their set, U2 performed 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' and 'Bad.' Bono also sang in a group rendition of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' 8 Bono poses during a photocall for the film 'Bono: Stories of Surrender' at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. AFP via Getty Images Bono previously reflected on his 1980s mullet in his 2022 memoir 'Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story: Bono.' Advertisement 'As for the show itself, influential though it was in the arc of our band, I confess that I find it excruciating to watch,' he wrote, per The Guardian. 'It's a little humbling that during one of the greatest moments of your life, you're having a bad hair day.' 8 Bono performing at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium in London. Mirrorpix via Getty Images 'Now, some people would say that I've had a bad hair life, but when I am forced to look at footage of U2 playing Live Aid, there is only one thing that I can see. The mullet,' the 'With Or Without You' singer said. 'All thoughts of altruism and of righteous anger, all the right reasons that we were there, all these flee my mind, and all I see is the ultimate bad hair day.' 8 Bono performing during Live Aid in July 1985. Redferns In a 2012 interview, Bono said: 'I have an erase button on the mullet hairdo.' 'Many lay claim to the mullet. I'm trying to think of the guy who invented it,' he jokingly added. 8 Bono performs during the U2 concert in Nashville in May 2018. Getty Images Advertisement 'Live Aid: When Rock 'n' Roll Took On the World' is a four-part documentary that 'tells the definitive story of how two rockstars inspired the largest global music events in history.' The doc features interviews with other musical acts including Sting, Patti LaBelle, Phil Collins and Lionel Richie.
USA Today
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Live Aid at 40: Bono recalls iconic performance but laments 'such a bad hair day'
Freddie Mercury peacocking across the stage, pumping his mic stand while 72,000 pairs of hands double clapped in unison during Queen's 'Radio Ga Ga.' David Bowie, elegant in his powder blue suit, giving new meaning to 'Heroes' as a blond tuft of hair flopped against his sweaty forehead. Bono, oh Bono, already changing the world and the trajectory of U2's burgeoning career with an 11-minute version of 'Bad' so searing that it reached through the screen to capture your soul. The breathtaking moments during Live Aid are too numerous to recount considering the towering lineups at Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia that also included Paul McCartney, Elton John, The Who, Duran Duran, Eric Clapton, Sting, Madonna, Mick Jagger and Tina Turner. The aptly named 'Live Aid: When Rock 'n' Roll Took on the World,' a four-part documentary that dives into the colossal benefit show spearheaded by Bob Geldof, premieres at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) July 13 – the same date as the original event in 1985 – on CNN. In the two hourlong episodes provided to the press, Geldof, as charmingly scruffy now as he was as a darker-haired thirtysomething in the '80s, hasn't altered his steadfast focus – to raise funds to combat poverty and starvation in Ethiopia. Along with archival footage, Geldof's interviews in segments 'A Band Aid' and 'The Global Jukebox' (9 p.m. ET/PT July 20) are supplemented with current commentary from Bono, Sting and Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor. Also joining the conversation is Ultravox's Midge Ure, Geldof's partner in establishing Band Aid, the superstar lineup of British musicians who first aided Africa with their spirited charity single 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' in 1984, and co-organizer of Live Aid. The other episodes, 'The Greatest Show on Earth" (July 27) and 'Live 8 – 2005' (Aug. 3), both airing at 9 p.m. ET/PT, underscore the challenges Geldof faced getting money allocated to the neediest African communities and explain why he staged another global concert 20 years after Live Aid. For the several generations who weren't alive when the original two-continent, 16-hour concert bonanza unfurled live: Now is your chance to learn about this landmark in music history. Witnessing the devastation Band Aid sought to relieve While the origins of Band Aid's 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' were profiled in a December documentary to mark the 40th anniversary of the anthemic song, still more behind-the-scenes video is unearthed here, along with footage of the rampant disease and starvation plaguing Ethiopia. In a particularly moving segment from the '80s, a father holds his severely ill child, conceding that she will soon die. 'I worried about how to find a shovel,' to bury her, he says in current day. Seated next to him is that same girl, who made a miraculous recovery and is now a grown woman. Geldof visited Ethiopia in 1985 to see the heartbreak himself, earning him the scornful nickname, 'St. Bob.' As he recalls hearing the Band Aid song being played while there, he breaks down on camera at the memory of experiencing Bono's line from the song, 'Tonight thank God it's them instead of you,' while witnessing the distressing effects of malnourishment. 'All the rage, all the shame,' he says through tears. How Band Aid influenced USA for Africa Determined to continue to raise funds while also arguing with the British government about the value-added tax being taken from the song's proceeds, Geldof was thrilled to receive a call from Harry Belafonte. Belafonte, along with Michael Jackson – both of whom Geldof imitates to amusing effect – wanted to involve U.S. artists in the cause with the establishment of USA for Africa. 'If America comes to the party,' Geldof remembers thinking, 'then it's game on.' The nerves behind Live Aid News footage of Geldof's press conference announcing the historic Live Aid concerts in London and Philadelphia includes his comment that The Who was reforming especially for the event. Cut to an interview with Pete Townshend. 'No we weren't,' he says. 'It was blackmail, really.' But because of Geldof's passion, the band agreed to perform. Other archival media clips include a British TV station breathlessly reporting that fans overwhelmed box offices to get tickets to Live Aid, 'despite the 25-pound price tag.' Some of the behind-the-scenes fretting included Geldof's fear that new technology of using 16 satellites to broadcast the concerts on MTV and around the world would fail. 'No one knew if it would work,' he says. 'There was no plan B.' Bono, Queen and Phil Collins make memorable marks The MVP of Live Aid was unquestionably Phil Collins, who performed solo and with Sting at Wembley Stadium in the afternoon, then hopped aboard the Concorde supersonic airliner to play a second set that night in Philadelphia. While Collins was crossing the ocean, Queen was playing an early evening slot instead of later in the night as would befit an act of their stature because Geldof was no fan of their 'operatic' pop. Show promoter Harvey Goldsmith is more diplomatic, saying the band was put on during a 'low period' to give a 'kick' to the show. 'It seemed like a harebrained scheme,' says Queen's May, with a wry smile acknowledging his underappreciation of the event at the time. Bono, meanwhile, offers reflective insight into U2's momentous performance, which found him scaling the stage barricades during 'Bad' to reach a fan being passed through the crowd. While he believed in the humanitarian cause, he was also aware that, 'this is a TV broadcast and the performer in me is of course looking for some kind of 'moment'.' Bono also admits that even though U2's stirring performance has been decreed a pinnacle of Live Aid, he can't bring himself to watch it. 'It was such a bad hair day,' he recalls. 'It's one of your most famous moments of your life … and you've got a mullet.'
