Live Aid - Criticisms and Controversies

Criticisms and Controversies

Bob Dylan's performance generated controversy for his comment:

"I hope that some of the money…maybe they can just take a little bit of it, maybe…one or two million, maybe…and use it, say, to pay the mortgages on some of the farms and, the farmers here, owe to the banks…"

He is often misquoted, as on the Farm Aid website, as saying:

"Wouldn't it be great if we did something for our own farmers right here in America?"

In his best-selling autobiography, Is That It? (published in 1986), Geldof was extremely critical of the remark; he states:

"He displayed a complete lack of understanding of the issues raised by Live Aid…. Live Aid was about people losing their lives. There is a radical difference between losing your livelihood and losing your life. It did instigate Farm Aid, which was a good thing in itself, but it was a crass, stupid, and nationalistic thing to say."

Geldof was apparently not happy about The Hooters being tacked onto the bill as the opening band in Philadelphia. He felt pressured into it by Graham and local promoter Larry Magid. Magid, promoting the concert through Electric Factory Concerts, argued that the band was hugely popular in Philadelphia, despite their first major label album Nervous Night being released less than three months beforehand. Geldof let his feelings be known during an interview for Rolling Stone saying: "Who the fuck are The Hooters?" The Hooters did get their revenge in December 2004, when Geldof appeared on the bill with the Hooters in Germany as their opening act.

The anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba dedicated their first album Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records to criticize Live Aid.