The Boomtown Rats are marking their 50th anniversary with a UK tour and a slate of European festival appearances, the band said, as they reflect on five decades of making music under the leadership of Bob Geldof. Formed in 1975 in Ireland, the group continues to perform with the same core energy that defined their early years, even as its members move deeper into their seventies.
"The 50th year thing is a big thing. We're all getting older. I actually, in some ways, enjoy it more at this stage of life because you do not give a **** about it. Back in the day, we were so aware of moving forward. Now, we can live very much in the moment," Briquette, who is now 72, said. He recalled the band’s roots in a country that looked very different in the mid-1970s and acknowledged how those experiences shaped their music.
Briquette tied the band’s milestone to other landmark moments, noting that 2025 also marks the 40th anniversary of Live Aid. He spoke of a Live Aid musical in development and described the festival circuit as having been a major part of their recent year, with performances already completed in Germany, Italy, Ireland and Scotland and a UK tour planned for October and November. He hinted at a high-profile event at Hammersmith Apollo, where tickets were selling quickly.
"There’s going to be a Live Aid musical, which is fantastic, and I don’t like musicals. And the festivals have been huge. We’ve done Germany, Italy, Ireland and Scotland. We have a tour in October/November and that’s a UK tour. The Boomtown Rats are led by Bob Geldof," Briquette said, describing the ongoing balance between nostalgia and contemporary relevance.
Reflecting on Live Aid, he recalled the Wembley moment that has become a touchstone for many audience members: the Band Aid project culminated in a final, star-studded performance with Freddie Mercury, Elton John, Bono, George Michael and Sting. Briquette called it a unique, etched-in-brain moment that symbolized the band’s broader humanitarian impulse during that era.
The Irish background that helped form the Rats’s early voice also remains a through line in their songs. Briquette said many of the band’s tunes were written amid Ireland’s political and economic struggles, and he argued that old songs retain their resonance today as public life and technology reshape society. He pointed to titles such as Someone’s Looking at You, Rat Trap and I Don’t Like Mondays as examples of music that still speaks to contemporary concerns—from privacy and surveillance to the search for personal escape and the pressures of violence. Briquette warned that the world remains a frightening place in some respects, noting the persistence of political conflict and growing anxiety about global affairs.
"Today, school shootings are about once every three months now in the US. We’re still fighting against the violence in America and the autocratic people and still fighting against the Trumps of this world and politics," he said, linking past struggles to present debates. He added that Geldof continues to address such topics on stage, including discussions of Palestine and other global issues.
Despite the longevity, Briquette stressed that the group’s members are not immune to age-related changes in how they operate. He described a shift toward healthier routines, including a beauty regimen that includes moisturiser and hair product. He contrasted current norms with the older era when rock bands often operated with looser boundaries, noting that contemporary groups tend to plan downtime to recoup between tours. The band’s members, he said, now communicate more openly and watch out for one another, reflecting a broader industry standard that emphasizes welfare alongside performance.
The Rats originally disbanded in 1986, with Briquette admitting he felt burnt out from years of partying. He said the group’s 35-year pause gave him space to regroup, while maintaining close ties with Geldof during what he called his own wilderness years. When they re-formed, the dynamic was akin to a long-standing marriage without the closeness that romance might imply; yet the shared history has kept the band cohesive. Briquette described performing for newer, younger audiences as well as longtime fans: there are always people in the crowd whose parents introduced them to the Rats. He estimated the typical audience today includes people in their 50s, 60s and 70s, with younger fans drawn by family connections and the enduring appeal of the songs.
As the group enters its fifth decade, Briquette said the core is still galvanized by the chance to perform and to tell stories through music. He said the band’s longevity is not about chasing youth, but about staying present with fans and each other, savoring what it means to play together for half a century. "We irritate the hell out of each other, but it never becomes serious. There’s a history between us, and my whole life has been about rock and roll," he said, underscoring the deeply personal bonds that underpin a career that has weathered fatigue, fame and reform.