Midge Ure says ‘quite possibly’ to marking Live Aid at 40

Speaking exclusively to Greatest Hits Radio, singer Midge Ure has revealed that plans may be afoot to mark the 40th anniversary of Live Aid in 2025.

Backstage at Rewind Scotland last weekend, the Ultravox frontman teased that it’s quite possible something was happening, but it wouldn’t necessarily be what everyone expects.

When asked if something would happen to mark the anniversary in a couple of years, he responded: “Quite possibly but it might not be a concert, or a record and it might take on a different form. The need is still there and that’s not going to go away.”

Both he and Bob Geldolf have said it be great to do something like that every year simply because there’s a demand for it.

“There are so many issues on the planet right now it would be wonderful to see artists at the top of the tree today doing something similar, but it just hasn’t happened, I think, because music maybe doesn’t wield the same power it used to,” Midge admitted.

Continuing, he added: “Back in 1984, 1985, music was the be all and end all. We didn’t have phones, the internet, we didn’t have screens that were stuck to our faces all the time so there are many, many diversions for people now. But back then it was all powerful and the idea of a bunch of artists getting together to help someone else was unseen, to do something for charity was a novelty.”

Even though he was a part of the original Live Aid, he says there was a doubt in the back of his mind that it would happen, because it was just too big.

“We were pushing technology way beyond what it was capable of doing or supposed to be doing – satellite feeds from all around the world, two concerts with an ocean in between them – it was petrifying to say the least,” he recalled.

It wasn’t until the actual day of the concert; he finally realised it was a reality. Remembering the moment, Midge said: “We arrived at Wembley in a helicopter and flew over an empty Wembley Stadium surrounded by thousands and thousands of people. That’s the moment the penny actually dropped, and I realised that everything we’d been talking about wasn’t just a fantasy,”