This book explores the role that benefit concerts, tours, and recordings have and have had in mobilizing popular music and musicians to raise money or awareness to combat social problems, both human and natural.

Fund raising rock concerts have been a major feature of the music scene since the first recognized event, the Concert for Bangladesh, was organized by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar in 1971. Since then, they have come in many guises, from small-scale local affairs to mega international extravaganzas with the causes they support including national and international disaster relief as well as more political objectives.

Rock for Change considers the benefit concert over thirteen wide-ranging chapters. It includes major events including the Concert for Bangladesh, Live Aid, and the Concert for New York. National examples such as Scottish concerts for overseas aid, Neil and Pegi Young's Bridge School benefits in California, mining disasters in Canada, and political causes include Rock Against Racism and Red Wedge in the UK and punk events in Washington DC.