Bob Geldof ‘delighted’ Live Aid musical will tour Ireland
By Hannah Roberts, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter
Bob Geldof has said he is “delighted” more people will get to see the Live Aid musical when it tours Ireland and the UK in 2027.
Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert, set up by Boomtown Rats singer Geldof and Ultravox star Midge Ure, held on July 13th, 1985, to raise money for the famine in Ethiopia.
Decades later, the gigs inspired a jukebox-style musical which premiered at London’s The Old Vic in 2024.
On Tuesday, producers Jamie Wilson Productions announced Just For One Day – The Live Aid Musical will visit cities including Cardiff, Manchester, and Edinburgh when it heads on tour in 2027.
Geldof, 74, said: “Just For One Day brilliantly reimagines why Live Aid worked then and why the humanity of that day still matters now.
We’re rockin’ all over the… UK & Ireland! 🤘
Fresh from an acclaimed run at the @OldVicTheatre and in the West End, THE LIVE AID MUSICAL is going on tour from April 2027. Head to the link in our bio for venues and tickets — and get ready to ROCK! 🎤🎸 pic.twitter.com/W7hgVVz49c— Just For One Day | The Live Aid Musical (@liveaidmusical) December 16, 2025
“I’m delighted that more of the UK and Ireland will finally get to see this extraordinary and compelling musical.
“The reaction the show gets continually surprises and amazes me, standing ovations and people come back time and again, introducing the Live Aid story to new generations.”
The tour will begin in March 2027 at the Curve in Leicester before playing in Cardiff, Canterbury, Manchester, Oxford, Edinburgh, Plymouth, Sunderland, Birmingham, and Nottingham.
Further dates for shows taking place in Ireland, as well as the UK, will be announced soon.
The musical will finish its current run at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London on February 7th, 2026, ahead of a scheduled period of refurbishment.
The West End production opened in May this year following a run at CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto, Canada, and its premiere at The Old Vic.
The show, written by British author John O’Farrell and directed by Luke Sheppard, supports the Band Aid Charitable Trust.
The Live Aid concerts were a follow-up to the charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas?, which featured a number of celebrities and soared to number one in the UK singles chart in December 1984.
In July 1985, a concert was held in the US and in London, the latter of which was attended by the late Diana, Princess of Wales and the King, then Prince of Wales, who watched on as the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Bowie, Spandau Ballet, and Queen performed.
An estimated audience of more than 1.5 billion watched the broadcast and concerts inspired by the initiative were held in other countries across the globe.
The US equivalent was held at the John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia and saw performances from The Beach Boys, Black Sabbath, Bob Dylan, Sir Mick Jagger, and Tina Turner.
