WAR – will celebrate 50 years of their 1975 multi platinum album ‘Why Can’t We Be Friends’ at The Academy Dublin

Multi-platinum-selling WAR, the original street band, has been sharing its timeless music and message of brotherhood and harmony for over 5 decades before millions across the globe. Having sold more than 50 million records since its formation to include ten Billboard Top 10 hits. Top 40 hits include the timeless classics “Why Can’t We Be Friends,” “Low Rider,” “The World Is A Ghetto,” “The Cisco Kid,” and many more.

This year, fronted by co-founding member Lonnie Jordan, WAR will celebrate 50 years of their 1975 multi-platinum album, Why Can’t We Be Friends, with a 50-date summer tour, remixes, new releases and more. Including a a headline Academy, Dublin show for Wednesday, 2^nd July 2025!

WAR’s signature fusion of funk, soul, jazz, Latin, rock and street music is what first propelled them to prominence 55 years ago, but it was their ability to craft songs of social consciousness that further cemented their place in the modern American songbook. The immediate global impact of “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” was so profound that NASA transmitted the title track into space during the historic Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975. Since then, WAR have continued to sing out against racism, hunger, crime and conflict, while their music has been sampled by Janet Jackson, Tupac, Beastie Boys, Method Man, Sublime, Redman, Cypress Hill, Shaggy, A$AP Mob, Scarface, The Geto Boys, De La Soul, Flo Rida, Liam Payne, Thomas Rhett and more, and covered by everyone from Willie Nelson to The Muppets, George Clinton, Phish, ZZ Top and The Isley Brothers.

With more than 50 million albums sold, 20 gold, platinum and multi-platinum records, three Rock & Roll Hall of Fame noms, a GRAMMY Hall of Fame entry, four #1 LPs, nine Top 10s and twenty Top 40 songs, WAR didn’t just define the sound of the 1970s—they became a lasting voice for creative collaboration and social change, with a mission of love and harmony that resonates now more than ever. From the prophetic message of “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” to the timeless groove of “Low Rider,” this collection captures WAR at their most innovative and socially impactful. More than just a musical milestone, Why Can’t We Be Friends? (50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition) reaffirms the album’s relevance—both as a reflection of the polarizing era that inspired it, and as a beacon of hope for our present and future.

WAR
50 YEARS OF WHY CAN’T WE BE FRIENDS
Plus Special Guests
Wednesday, 2^nd July 2025
The Academy, Dublin

Tickets from €42.20 (inc booking fee & venue facility fee) from Ticketmaster.ie on sale Friday 16^th May @ 9am