Bob Geldof denies being a ‘white saviour’ for organising Live Aid

Irish musician co-organised 1985 concert to fundraise for people affected by Ethiopia famine

Bob Geldof has pushed back against claims he’s a “white saviour” for organising the 1985 Live Aid concert.

Geldof, now 72, and fellow musician Midge Ure organised a major multi-venue benefit to raise money for people affected by the 1983 to 1985 Ethiopia famine. The show united some of the world’s biggest stars such as Queen, U2, David Bowie and Paul McCartney at London’s Wembley Stadium, and the likes of Madonna, Led Zeppelin and Bob Dylan at the John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia.

A new stage musical titled Just For One Day revisits this historic concert nearly 40 years on.

In response, some reviewers and audiences have debated the value of the gig in hindsight, and whether it contained elements of white saviourism: white people helping non-white people for self-serving purposes, such as admiration from others.

For The Guardian, critic Arifa Akbar noted that the show “encapsulates the apex of the white saviour complex” and highlighted how some viewed the benefit as reinforcing “a patronising image of Africa as a continent desperate for, and dependent on, western aid”.

During an appearance on Times Radio on Thursday (15 February), Geldof shared his disagreement with the notion of being a white saviour, dismissing the critique as “the greatest load of b****cks ever”.

Bob Geldof (Getty Images)

“That’s the first thing. And it would be typical of the Guardian critic classic Islington bien pensant,” the singer told radio presenter Mariella Frostrup.

“If there was a famine in Italy and someone reacts and they’re white, are they a white saviour? Are the only people allowed to react to an African famine black?

“Are they the only ones allowed to do it? Because, wow, people in Africa are Black, so it can only be a Black person who does that. If there’s a famine where people are green, do you have to be green to do it?

“This is a nonsensical, absolutely dismissive argument. It is. I think it’s rubbish.”

In The Independent’s review, theatre critic Alice Saville noted that the show struggled to go much further than being a celebration of Geldof’s work – the Band Aid Charitable Trust still supports organisations in Africa today, and is advertised throughout the Old Vic theatre.

Saville writes that, as a result, “all attempts to make this feel like more than a massive celebration of (and advert for) the sweary Irish star’s legacy fall a bit flat”.