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CNN Live Event/Special
Farm Aid Celebrates 40th Anniversary. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired September 20, 2025 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
THOM DUFFY, SENIOR EDITOR, BILLBOARD: And look at what we're dealing with now with immigrant farm laborers and how they're treated in this country. So it was a very significant choice for her to play that song.
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: Well, a reminder of just how interconnected it all has been in terms of all of us connected in the spirit and why we're here right now. I want to go to Bill Weir.
Bill, I am eager to see what you're down there doing. You've got the vibe, the pulse of the people. Talk to me about what it's like down there and who you're meeting. Bill.
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're seeing T- shirts that say Soil Mates. Get it? Soil Mates, Farmers. Which is great. But I think I found a musical soulmate over here, a gentleman by the name of Todd Hefner. Come on in here, Todd. Todd's from Alabama. And this is going to be the 99th time you've seen Willie Nelson.
TODD HEFNER, ALABAMA: That's correct. 99 times. First time was in 1984. September 14th, at the Nashville State Fair. Tennessee State Fair in Nashville.
WEIR: You were telling me he had cut his ponytail for a movie.
HEFNER: He was up there warming up. Nobody knew it was him. He was in a ball cap. He turned. He flips around and hits the first court of "Whiskey River."
WEIR: So, singing my song, Todd, what is it about Willie you love, and how would you evangelize him to people who may not appreciate the redheaded stranger?
HEFNER: That was 41 years and almost a week ago. And I've thought about it. For 41 years, he's been fighting for the American farmer and for sustainable agriculture and for everybody to have some kind of healthy food option. What's better than that? Why don't -- if our politicians had done it the last 41 years, Bill. Right. What else would better than that? That's what I love about him.
WEIR: He's got to be maybe one of the most beloved liberals in American history. Right.
HEFNER: I would think.
WEIR: Transcends those divides.
HEFNER: You know, this crowd tonight, who knows where everybody is, right, left, whatever. Dave Matthews just sang. You heard him. One of his key lines was, we're all neighbors. What if we could remember we're all neighbors and man, in this day.
WEIR: And we all want peace on earth. But what about the monster? That was a powerful song about the monster in ourselves.
HEFNER: Just incredible, all these musicians. You know, music transcends. Music transcends. It can bring us together. And we got to remember I saw a thing today. Whether you're a left wing or right wing, the eagle can't fly without both wings.
WEIR: Todd. I love that. That's beautiful.
HEFNER: Truly. Yes. Yes. I think he's one of the greatest songwriters of all time. You got a list Brian. You got to list Kristofferson. You got to list Dylan, who will be here shortly. But Willie's the guy. He's 92 years old. I got -- my dad is 88. He's still a professor in Nashville, Tennessee. But 92 years old and still on the road something like 80 or 100 nights a year. It's a remarkable thing.
WEIR: We should all be such a Blue Zone residents right there. He's such here. Todd, it's great to meet you, brother. Enjoy the set.
HEFNER: Thank you so much.
WEIR: Yes, if you're ever in Brooklyn, come by. We'll listen to Redheaded Stranger. Let's go back to John and Laura. That was amazing, man. That was amazing.
COATES: I love it, Bill. If you're ever in Brooklyn. I love it. I love that. That's the name of his next show, I'll tell you that. But can we just talk to. Again, Tom, look at the lineup tonight. John Mellencamp, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson. That's still ahead.
DUFFY: John Mellencamp's got a wonderful line. Goes, you guys still doing Farm Aid? He goes, you still leading?
JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Bob Dylan wasn't announced he was going to be here till a few days ago, I think. Look, so many Americans have been loved, you know, been in love with Bob Dylan for 50 years. There's a whole new generation that saw the movie last year with Timothee Chalamet, who just sort of discovered him. Do we know what we can expect from him on stage?
DUFFY: Never. I, you know, forgive me, I mentioned my daughter Maggie going with me to Outlaw Music Festival earlier, but the fact is that she doesn't have a lifetime of preconceptions about Bob. Absolutely adored his set at Outlaw Music Festival, as did I, because Bob can do anything, you know, for me.
The significance of Bob being here cannot be understated. The fact that he made the comment that started Willie thinking about Live Aid, the fact that he's from here. The fact that the whole concept of popular music as a social force is more connected to Bob than probably any other performer. So the fact that he's here is really, really significant.
COATES: And he's from Minnesota. I mean, this is really his hometown. And the idea of just seeing him here on the 40th anniversary of Farm Aid and, you know, it reminds you of the power of a single comment to have gotten the attention of, you know, a corn and cotton picker who is named Willie Nelson at the time, who heard it and said, wait a second.
DUFFY: He actually told Billboard when heard that remark.
[22:05:02]
He said the way he put it was the question of why we can't be helping the farmers.
COATES: Yes.
DUFFY: Hit me like a ton of bricks.
BERMAN: So we're about to hear very shortly, John Mellencamp. My memory of 40 years ago, and I remember watching Farm Made on TV. John Mellencamp, was he still called John Cougar then? Almost.
DUFFY: Just barely.
BERMAN: He was the kid.
DUFFY: Yes.
BERMAN: He was the kid --
DUFFY: Yes.
BERMAN: -- playing with the grownups, you know, like Dylan and Neil Young and Willie Nelson, and he was the kid. And now we're 40 years later, not quite the kid anymore.
DUFFY: And he's still Indiana. You know, he hasn't left his farmland either.
BERMAN: Seymour, Indiana. But just talk about John Mellencamp, what Farm Aid has meant to him and what he's meant for farmers for 40 years.
DUFFY: Well, "Small Town" and particularly "Rain on the Scarecrow", probably two songs that most capture, you know, one in a very positive way. "Small town" one in an absolutely harrowing way. "Rain on the Scarecrow."
BERMAN: "Blood on the Plow.
DUFFY: Yes. Songs that absolutely captured the spirit of Farm Aid back then. And all of these guys are stubborn. They are just not giving up. And I've had that experience dealing with John through the years.
BERMAN: Oh, yeah.
COATES: I want to dance. I want to hear "Hurt So Good." And I want him to be stubborn when he plays it.
DUFFY: Oh, yes.
COATES: Keep going on.
DUFFY: Well --
COATES: I want to hear all of it.
DUFFY: You'll have the opportunity to sing along, because he'll just let this crowd take it.
COATES: Oh, then I apologize in advance as I sing along and try to relive some moment in my life. You know what's funny? I was just talking to my kids, only 12 and 11 years old, and you know why? They knew who John Mellencamp was. They were watching Blackish, and the two kids are named Jack and Diane. I'm like --
DUFFY: Oh wow. Wow, that's great song.
COATES: I go. And I'm like here is a moment of teaching. Let me play this song.
DUFFY: For those of us who remember the Tasty Freeze.
BERMAN: While we have you here, the one guy we haven't talked about yet in depth is Neil Young. When you talk about, like, contribution to music over generations from Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Nash, and Young, you know, and then is a soloist. His connection to Farm Aid, and we're about to actually. We don't have that much more, so 20 seconds or less. Neil Young.
DUFFY: Neil Young makes it clear it's an economic choice that consumers have where they buy their food. And he'll make that clear.
BERMAN: Yes, he doesn't hold back. Pretty outspoken dude. All right. Thom Duffy.
COATES: Can't wait.
BERMAN: It's been so great to have you up here helping us understand these really, truly amazing acts we're seeing tonight.
DUFFY: Honored to be here with you guys.
COATES: Look, our next act. His sound is unmistakable. It's John Mellencamp. Dave Matthews is going to introduce him.
You know, it's funny. While we're watching this unfold, and I cannot wait to have Dave Matthews come back out, introduce John Mellencamp. I'm telling you, the songs I want to hear "Hurt So Good." I want to hear "Pink Houses." I want to hear and sing along. If it's "Wild Night," if that starts playing, if there is someone who resembles Meshell Ndegeocello to start playing some sort of bass rift, I will go crazy.
BERMAN: And then "Jack and Diane," sure, I, you know, I can almost guarantee he'll play that. One of the crazy things or great things about the remaining artists we have, whether it's John Mellencamp, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, they're all strong personalities, strong souls. Here's Dave Matthews to introduce John Mellencamp.
DAVE MATTHEWS, MUSICAN AND FARM AID BOARD MEMBER: So ever since the first time I played here, it's been an enormous honor to share the stage with this man, and he's been at Farm Aid from the very beginning. He's the founder with Willie. He is also a big part of the American songbook. He's just an amazing, amazing writer and performer. Y' all give it up for John Mellencamp.
[22:10:22]
UNIDENTIFEID MALE: Ready. Go.
(MUSIC)
[22:25:44]
COATES: This crowd loves it. They are singing along. I know all of you are at home as well. More from John Mellencamp right after the break. Including the iconic "Jack and Diane."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: All right. Welcome back, everyone. John Mellencamp on stage. Very shortly, he is going to perform "Jack and Diane." Let's watch.
(MUSIC)
[22:47:25]
COATES: Stay with us. Bob Dylan is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:51:19]
BERMAN: Oh, yes. All right. John Berman with Laura Coates here. We are at Farm Aid. The 40th anniversary tonight has been filled with amazing performances and special moments, and we are in for another one right now. CNN's Bill Weir is backstage and he is joined by music legend John Mellencamp, who just got off the stage. Bill.
WEIR: John, I was a high school senior in 1985 when "Scarecrow" came out, and it was anthem. And it was such a delight to "Sing Pink Houses" with you just now to sing "Jack and Diane" in the rain. Thank you for letting us be part of this.
JOHN MELLENCAMP, CO-FOUNDER, FARM AID: Thank you for helping us. You know, we can use all the help we can get with the government today passing, you know, more regulations that help the factory farms and less to help the small family farm. I mean, we could be in as bad a shape as were in '85.
WEIR: When you add immigration raids, we add climate change. It could be worse.
MELLENCAMP: Now, let's talk about climate change. I don't know about that. I think the core of the Earth gets hotter and it's been happening forever. We are not going to kill this planet. We might kill ourselves, but we won't kill the planet. The planet will live on.
WEIR: Yes. You know, Earth is going to be fine. Earth is very important. It's us. We're the ones who are screwed because we didn't build correctly.
MELLENCAMP: Listen, that. That's what climate change is. You know, it's a known fact that climate has changed throughout the centuries, you know, forever. Forever. And we're just going through that change. It doesn't scare me, and it doesn't, you know, in 1970, science was telling us better get your coats on because we're getting ready to enter a new ice age. Check it. It was all over the place.
WEIR: Sure, but we know a lot more about science these days than we did in the 70s.
MELLENCAMP: Hold on for a second. We thought we knew a lot in the 70s, you know, I mean, we thought we knew a lot in the 70s. So, you know, I think that people should concentrate on loving each other, forgetting about what color somebody's skin is. We all bleed the same. It's all red, you know, and we should try to help each other.
And my motto is, and I suggest to your audience the motto is this, mind your own fucking business. And if you can help somebody, help them. But we don't need anybody to tell us how to live. I'll live the way I want, you guys live the way you want, and we'll all get along fine.
WEIR: When you started this 40 years ago, you couldn't imagine it would still be going today, right?
MELLENCAMP: I mean, no, were kids, you know, were kids and we thought that. We thought that we would do this one show and that people would go, the government would go, you know, you have the right. And things would change. Of course, that didn't happen, but were naive and we believed, you know, in our ideals and things.
And here we are 40 years later, almost in as bad a crisis as the 80s, and, you know, we have learned that farming is used for political purposes. Political football. I don't know that Willie or me or Neil really knew that in 1985.
[22:55:04]
We just knew that. You know, how it started for me was I couldn't -- I live Indiana, so I couldn't understand why are all these small towns going out of business, you know, towns that I used to run around in when I was in high school. Like Freetown, Indiana, it was like a normal little town, but it was a farming community.
Now, if you go there, she supported up buildings and I hate to bring it up, but if. Did you notice the empty beat up silos right over there? That's where we used to store grain. And now there's just huge silos sitting there, I assume empty because all the windows are broken out on the main building. And that was for the small family farms.
WEIR: Hopefully. Little knowledge is power. And you guys have been spending 40 years trying to enlighten us about the plight of these folks. But tonight was really special. Thank you for letting us --
MELLENCAMP: I appreciate. Thank you very much.
WEIR: John Mellencamp, everybody. Such a master of the American songbook. So cool to see. And guess who's coming up next. John, Laura.
BERMAN: I got to say, Bill, the only thing I say to that is, it hurts so good. It just hurts.
COATES: Come on, baby. It hurts so good job. Like it should. I love it.
BERMAN: That was outstanding. Thanks so much, Bill. And when we return, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and the great Willie Nelson, all live right here in Minneapolis, right here on CNN. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
