On July 13, 1985, before performing "When The Ship Comes In" with Keith Richards and Ron Wood at the Live Aid benefit concert for the 1983–1985 Ethiopian famine, Bob Dylan remarked about family farmers within the United States in danger of losing their farms through mortgage debt, saying to the worldwide audience exceeding one billion people, "I hope that some of the money ... maybe they can just take a little bit of it, maybe ... one or two million, maybe ... and use it, say, to pay the mortgages on some of the farms and, the farmers here, owe to the banks."

Although his comments were heavily criticised, they inspired fellow musicians Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young to organize the Farm Aid benefit concert to raise money for and help family farmers in the United States.

[3] Willie and the other founders had originally thought that they could have one concert and the problem would be solved, but they admit that the challenges facing family farmers were more complex than anyone realized.

[10] The 2005 concert, marking the 20th anniversary of Farm Aid, took place at the Tweeter Center in Tinley Park, Illinois, with events in downtown Chicago as well.

The September 2019 lineup includes Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and country music star Luke Combs.