The Boomtown Rats Reveal More Details About ‘The First 50 Years’
‘The First 50 Years: Songs Of Boomtown Glory’ finally arrives in full on September 19.
First announced in December 2024, The Boomtown Rats are sharing more information about The First 50 Years: Songs Of Boomtown Glory, an anthology set celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Irish band’s formation. The 24-song 2LP set and 27-song CD will officially hit shelves on September 19, 2025, and is available for pre-order now. All the tracks included whether selected by the band and by online fan polling, and the packaging will include a look at the band’s long career, making The First 50 Years a one-of-a-kind retrospective.
Not long after The First 50 Years arrives, the band will depart on an extensive United Kingdom tour. The Happy Birthday Boomtown Tour will kick off on October 10 in Nottingham before making stops in cities like London, Glasgow, and Liverpool. All told, the Boomtown Rats will play 12 dates over the course of October and November.
Formed in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland in 1975, the Boomtown Rats have become one of the most respected and emulated bands of their generation, inspiring everyone from U2 to Sinead O’Connor to Fontaines DC. Led by Bob Geldof, the band was a near-immediate smash in their home country and in the United Kingdom. In 1979, the band came to global prominence with their hit “I Don’t Like Mondays,” which charted all around the globe and topped charts in Ireland, Australia, and the UK. “Someone’s Looking At You” and “Banana Republic” brought further international success.
2025 also brings another major anniversary for the band. 40 years ago, Geldof co-organized Live Aid, a trans-Atlantic benefit concert to help fund relief for famine in Ethiopia. The Boomtown Rats performed from London and the concert was broadcast all over the globe, becoming not only one of the Boomtown Rats’ most famous performances, but one of the defining pop culture moments of the 1980s. Not long after the concert, the band went on hiatus for several years, officially reforming in 2013. The band released their first new music of the 2000s with 2020’s Citizens Of Boomtown.
Order The Boomtown Rats’ The First 50 Years: Songs of Boomtown Glory now.
