Band Aid is a charity supergroup featuring mainly British and Irish musicians and recording artists. It was founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for anti-famine efforts in Ethiopia by releasing the song " Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the Christmas market that year. On 25 November 1984, the song was recorded at Sarm West Studios in

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...

, London, and was released in the UK on Monday 3 December. The single surpassed the hopes of the producers to become the Christmas number one on that release. Three re-recordings of the song to raise further money for charity also topped the charts, first the Band Aid II version in 1989, the Band Aid 20 version in 2004 and finally the Band Aid 30 version in 2014. Band Aid II and Band Aid 20 were also Christmas number one. The original was produced by Ure. The 12" version was mixed by Trevor Horn.

Background and discography

The supergroup was formed by Bob Geldof, who was then lead singer of the Irish band the Boomtown Rats. The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

played a major role in capturing the poverty affecting Ethiopian citizens and thereby influenced Geldof to take action. Paula Yates, Geldof's partner, is considered to have been the brains behind the original Band Aid. She was the driving force that inspired (and helped) Geldof to rally the most famous pop stars of the 1980s to raise money for famine relief in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. The group was composed of forty artists to raise awareness and funds for the Ethiopian famine in 1983–1985. The group's name stemmed from the idea that the musicians were providing aid to the less fortunate and suggested that their project was likened to putting a Band-Aid on a wound. Geldof was looking for support from all nations for Africa beginning in the United Kingdom. To do so, the artists recorded a hit single titled " Do They Know It's Christmas?" depicting the poverty-stricken African scenery of the time.

Original Band Aid

Chronology (1984)

Geldof was so moved by the plight of starving children in Ethiopia that he decided to try to raise money using his contacts in pop music. Geldof enlisted the help of Midge Ure, from the group

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which wa ...

, to produce a charity record. Ure took Geldof's lyrics, and created the

melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

and backing track for the record. Geldof called many of the most popular British and Irish performers of the time, persuading them to donate their time. His one criterion for selection was how famous they were, to maximise sales of the record. He then kept an appointment to appear on a show on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

, with Richard Skinner, but instead of promoting the new Boomtown Rats material as planned, he announced the plan for Band Aid. The recording studio waived their £85-per-hour fee and gave (the as yet unnamed) Band Aid 24 free hours to record and mix the record, on 25 November 1984. The recording took place at SARM Studios in

, owned by Trevor Horn's ZTT Records, between 11 am and 7 pm. It was filmed by director

Nigel Dick Nigel Dick (born 21 March 1953) is an English music video director and filmmaker. Originally from Catterick, North Yorkshire, he is based in Los Angeles, California. He has directed music videos for artists such as Britney Spears, Toto, Ba ...

to be released as the pop video, though some basic tracks had been recorded the day before at Midge Ure's home studio. The first tracks to be recorded were the group/choir choruses which were filmed by the international press. The footage was rushed to newsrooms where it aired while the recording process continued. Later, drums by

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

were recorded. The introduction of the song features a slowed-down drum sample from the Tears for Fears track "The Hurting" (which had been released in 1983). Tony Hadley, of

Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet ( ) were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids (New Romantics), ...

, was the first to record his vocal, while a section sung by

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, economic, legal, environmental, political, religious, scientific or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the curren ...

was deemed unusable, and replaced with a section comprising

Paul Weller John William Weller (born 25 May 1958), better known as Paul Weller, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame in the late 1970s as the guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of the rock band the Jam, alongside ...

, Sting, and Glenn Gregory from Heaven 17. Simon Le Bon from

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

sang between contributions from George Michael and Sting. Paul Young has since admitted, in a documentary, that he knew his opening lines were written for

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

, who was not able to make the recording but made a contribution to the B-side (Bowie performed his lines at the Live Aid concert the following year). Boy George arrived last, at 6 pm, after Geldof woke him up by phone telling Boy George that he wanted him on the song. George's group,

Culture Club Culture Club are an English new wave music, new wave band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (musician), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), and Mikey Craig (bass guitar), and formerly included Jon Moss ( ...

, were touring the US and George caught a

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jet from New York City to London, at his own expense, to record his solo part. The following morning, Geldof appeared on the Radio 1 breakfast show with Mike Read, to promote the record further and promise that every penny would go to the cause. This led to a stand-off with the British government, who refused to waive the VAT on the sales of the single. Geldof made headlines publicly standing up to Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

and the Conservative government in 1985 agreed to make a donation to charities working in Ethiopia and Chad equivalent to the VAT (Value Added Tax) collected on sales of the original 1984 Band Aid record. The record was released on 7 December 1984 and went straight to No. 1 in the UK singles chart, outselling all the other records in the chart put together. It became the fastest-selling single of all time in the UK, selling a million copies in the first week alone. It stayed at No. 1 for five weeks, selling over three million copies and becoming easily the biggest-selling single of all time in the UK, beating the seven-year record held by " Mull of Kintyre". It has since been surpassed by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

's " Candle in the Wind 1997" (his tribute to

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

). At the 1986 Grammy Awards the original music video from "Do They Know It's Christmas?" won Band Aid a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination for Best Music Video, Short Form. After

Live Aid Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a m ...

, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" was re-released in late 1985 in a set that included a special-edition 'picture disc' version, modeled after the Live Aid logo with 'Band' in place of 'Live'. An added bonus, "One Year On" (a statement from Geldof and Ure on the telephone) was available as a B-side. A transcript of "One Year On" can be found in a booklet which was included in the DVD set of Live Aid, the first disc of which features the BBC news report, as well as the Band Aid video. Live Aid inspired a number of charity events, such as Media Aid, which raised money for

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

1984 performers

Vocalists: * Robert "Kool" Bell ( Kool & the Gang) *

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

( U2) * Boy George (

) * Pete Briquette ( The Boomtown Rats) * Adam Clayton (U2) *

( Genesis and solo artist) * Chris Cross (

) * Simon Crowe (The Boomtown Rats) * Sara Dallin ( Bananarama) * Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama) * Johnnie Fingers (The Boomtown Rats) * Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats) * Glenn Gregory ( Heaven 17) * Tony Hadley (

) * John Keeble (Spandau Ballet) * Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet) * Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet) * Simon Le Bon (

) * Marilyn *

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

(

Wham! Wham! were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to ...

) * Jon Moss (Culture Club) *

Steve Norman Steven Antony Norman (born 25 March 1960) is an English musician who plays tenor saxophone, guitar, percussion and other instruments, for the English New wave music, new romantic band Spandau Ballet. Biography Early years Steve Norman was born in ...

(Spandau Ballet) * Rick Parfitt (

) *

Nick Rhodes Nick Rhodes (born Nicholas James Bates; 8 June 1962) is an English keyboardist and producer, best known as a founding member and the keyboardist of the band Duran Duran. He has also been the only constant member of the group since their 1978 ...

(Duran Duran) * Francis Rossi (Status Quo) * Sting ( The Police) * Andy Taylor (Duran Duran) * James "J.T." Taylor (Kool & the Gang) * John Taylor (Duran Duran) * Roger Taylor (Duran Duran) * Dennis Thomas (Kool & the Gang) * Midge Ure (Ultravox) * Martyn Ware (Heaven 17) *

Jody Watley Jody Vanessa Watley (born January 30, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter and producer whose music crosses genres including pop, R&B, jazz, dance and electronic soul.Paoletta, Michael (February 22, 2003) "Watley Relaxes In The Setting of The ...

( Shalamar) *

(

The Style Council The Style Council were an English pop band formed in Woking in 1982 by Paul Weller, the former lead vocalist, principal songwriter and guitarist with the rock band the Jam, and keyboardist Mick Talbot, previously a member of Dexys Midnight Ru ...

) * Keren Woodward (Bananarama) * Paul Young Sleeve artist: * Peter Blake Additional spoken messages on B-side: * Stuart Adamson, Mark Brzezicki, Tony Butler, Bruce Watson (

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) *

* Holly Johnson (

Frankie Goes to Hollywood Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English pop band that formed in Liverpool in 1980. They comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Mark O'Toole (bass), Brian Nash (guitar) and Peter Gill (drums). Johnson and Ruther ...

) *

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

Instrumentalists: *Phil Collins – drums *John Taylor – bass *Midge Ure – keyboards and programming

Effectiveness

The hit single " Do They Know It's Christmas?" was highly successful worldwide. It sold over two million copies around the globe and raised more than US$24 million. The super group's success was seen as a large increase in celebrity diplomacy and inspired similar actions of support from countries such as Canada, France, Spain and the United States. The success influenced two organisations of live benefit concerts run by celebrity charity. The concerts were

USA for Africa "We Are the World" is a charity record, charity single recorded by the charity supergroup, supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones for the album ''We Are the World (al ...

and

and were broadcast in over 160 countries. Band Aid and Live Aid combined raised about US$150 million for the famine relief effort in

Band Aid II

This version, released in 1989, was produced by a British songwriting and production team formed by Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman known as

Stock Aitken Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW and also known as the Hit Factory) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s throug ...

. The only artists from the original Band Aid to be featured again on this version were Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward of Bananarama. This version topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks.

Production

On Friday 1 December 1989, Bob Geldof called Pete Waterman to ask if he would consider producing a new version of the song featuring the big stars from that time. Waterman immediately postponed his wedding and began calling up the artists. With just two days' notice, on Sunday 3 December, recording took place at PWL Studios in South London. Present in the studio was Bob Geldof, wife Paula Yates and six-year-old daughter Fifi Trixiebelle, who was eager to meet Jason Donovan. Production continued through the Monday, and by Tuesday 5 December the song was broadcast for the first time on London's

Capital Radio Capital London is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Global Media & Entertainment as part of its national Capital (radio network), Capital Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Bri ...

. Advance sales of the record reached 500,000. The song was released the following week on 11 December and spent three weeks at number one, becoming the ninth biggest-selling song of the year.

1989 performers

Vocalists: * Bananarama * Big Fun * Bros * Cathy Dennis * D Mob *

Jason Donovan Jason Sean Donovan (born 1 June 1968) is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap ''Neighbours'', playing Scott Robinson, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 millio ...

Kevin Godley Kevin Michael Godley (born 7 October 1945) is an English singer-songwriter, drummer and music video director. He was a singer and drummer of the art rock band 10cc and later was part of collaboration duo Godley & Creme with Lol Creme. Early ...

* Glen Goldsmith *

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

* The Pasadenas *

Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is a British Rock music, rock and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist from Middlesbrough. Known for his distinctive voice and his slide guitar playing, Rea has recorded twenty-five studio albums, ...

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

* Jimmy Somerville * Sonia *

Lisa Stansfield Lisa Jane Stansfield (born 11 April 1966) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her career began in 1980 when she won the singing competition ''Search for a Star''. After appearances in various television shows and releasing her first ...

* Technotronic * Wet Wet Wet Musicians: * Matt Aitken – keyboards & guitar * Luke Goss ( Bros) – drums *Chris Rea – guitar * Mike Stock – keyboards

Band Aid 20

Band Aid 20 was the 2004 incarnation of the charity group Band Aid. The group, which included Daniel Bedingfield, Justin Hawkins of the Darkness, Chris Martin of

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

of U2, and

, re-recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas?". The song reached No. 1 on 6 November 2004, spent four weeks at that position and became the biggest-selling single of 2004.

2004 performers

Vocalists: * Tim Wheeler ( Ash) * Daniel Bedingfield * Natasha Bedingfield *

( U2) *

James Bourne James Elliot Bourne (born 13 September 1983) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is known as the co-founder of pop-punk bands Busted (band), Busted and Son of Dork, and he also created his own electronic project under the alias Fu ...

( Busted) * Keisha Buchanan ( Sugababes) * Mutya Buena (Sugababes) *Ben Carrigan ( The Thrills) * Tom Chaplin ( Keane) * Nathan Connolly (

Snow Patrol Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland, consisting of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), and Johnny McDaid (piano, guitar, keyboards, backi ...

) *Conor Deasy (The Thrills) *

Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (located ...

– performed separately from a studio in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

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– the only artist to add lyrics to the song *

Ms. Dynamite Naomi Arleen McLean-Daley (born 26 April 1981), better known as Ms. Dynamite, is a British singer and rapper. She is the recipient of the Mercury Music Prize, two Brit Awards and three MOBO Awards. Early years She was born Naomi Arleen M ...

* Skye Edwards ( Morcheeba) * Estelle * Neil Hannon (

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) * Justin Hawkins ( The Darkness) * Fran Healy ( Travis) *

Taka Hirose Takashi Hirose (Japanese: タカ・ヒロセ (広瀬隆), born 28 July 1967) is a Japanese musician who is the current bass guitarist for the rock band Feeder. Biography Hirose began playing bass at the age of 14 in secondary school and pl ...

( Feeder) *Kevin Horan (The Thrills) * Jamelia *

Beverley Knight Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English singer, songwriter, actress and radio personality. She released her first album, ''The B-Funk'', in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke ...

*Olly Knights ( Turin Brakes) *

Lemar Lemar Obika (born 4 April 1978), known mononymously as Lemar, is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. Initially rising to fame after finishing third on the Fame Academy (series 1), first series of British talent show ''Fame Acade ...

* Shaznay Lewis ( All Saints) * Gary Lightbody (Snow Patrol) * Russell Mael ( Sparks) * Chris Martin (

) * Mark McClelland (Snow Patrol) *Padraic McMahon (The Thrills) * Katie Melua * Róisín Murphy (

Moloko Moloko () were an English-Irish electronic music duo formed in Sheffield, England, consisting of vocalist Róisín Murphy and music producer, producer Mark Brydon. Blending elements of electronica and dance music, they are best known for their ...

) *

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(Feeder) *Gale Paridjanan (Turin Brakes) * Jonny Quinn (Snow Patrol) * Heidi Range (Sugababes) * Tim Rice-Oxley (Keane) * Mark Richardson (Feeder) *Daniel Ryan (The Thrills) * Charlie Simpson (Busted) * Rachel Stevens *

Joss Stone Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...

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– performed separately from a studio in Los Angeles *

Matt Willis Matt Willis (born 8 May 1983) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, television personality and actor. He is known as co-founder, bassist and co-vocalist of the pop-punk band Busted (band), Busted. Willis released his debut solo album ''Do ...

(Busted) *

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is an English singer, songwriter and actor. He came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest '' Pop Idol'', making him the first winner of the worldwide '' Ido ...

Musicians: *

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(

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) – drums * Jonny Greenwood (

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) – guitar * Dan Hawkins (The Darkness) – guitar * Justin Hawkins (The Darkness) – guitar *

– bass guitar *

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(Radiohead) – piano Additional personnel: *

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– tea boy * Bob Geldof – organiser * Nigel Godrich – producer * Midge Ure – executive producer

Band Aid 30

Band Aid 30 was the 2014 incarnation of the charity supergroup Band Aid. Announced by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, the aim was to aid 2014 Ebola outbreak victims in Western Africa and preventing its spread. As in previous incarnations, the group covered the track " Do They Know It's Christmas?", written in 1984 by Geldof and Ure. The song was recorded by some of the biggest-selling current British and Irish pop acts, including

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, were an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group consisted of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik (until his departure in 2015), Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson. The group sold o ...

, Sam Smith,

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

Emeli Sandé Adele Emily Sandé ( ; previously Gouraguine; born 10 March 1987), known professionally as Emeli Sandé, is a British singer and songwriter. Born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England and raised in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Sandé rose t ...

, Ellie Goulding,

Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (; born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer-songwriter, television personality, and actress. Born in Pristina, modern-day Kosovo, she rose to prominence when she featured on DJ Fresh's 2012 single, "Hot Rig ...

, and

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, along with Chris Martin (

) and

( U2)—the third time he contributed to a Band Aid recording. Their version of the song debuted at the chart's summit during the week of its release, then dropped down a place in each of the following two weeks before dropping out of the Top 10 in its fourth week. It also received a polarised reception from many music critics due to its new lyric directed towards Africa. Also, for the first time, a German version was produced and reached the top position of the German single charts at the beginning of December 2014. The project is led by Geldof's close friend Campino, lead vocalist of the punk rock band

Die Toten Hosen Die Toten Hosen are a German punk rock band from Düsseldorf. The name is taken from the German slang idiom ''tote Hose'' (literally "dead trousers"), which means "nothing happening"; "boring". The band has had an important success through th ...

. A French version of the song is led by Carla Bruni.

2014 performers

Vocalists: *

( U2) *

Clean Bandit Clean Bandit is an English electronic music group formed in Cambridge in 2008. They have achieved four number-one singles and six additional top-ten songs on the UK Official Singles Chart. Since 2016, the group has been a trio comprising foundi ...

* Paloma Faith *

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(

Elbow The elbow is the region between the upper arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and t ...

) * Ellie Goulding *

Niall Horan Niall James Horan ( ; born 13 September 1993) is an Irish singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence as a member of the boy band One Direction, formed in 2010 on the singing competition ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor''. The gr ...

(

) * Angélique Kidjo * Zayn Malik (One Direction) * Chris Martin (

) * Olly Murs *

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

* Liam Payne (One Direction) *

* Seal * Alfie Deyes * Joe Sugg * Zoella *

* Dan Smith (

) * Sam Smith *

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(One Direction) *

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(One Direction) *

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* Jessie Ware Musicians: *Milan Neil Amin-Smith (

) – violin *Grace Chatto (

) – cello * Roger Taylor (

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

) – drums, keyboards *Ed Sheeran – guitar *Sinéad O'Connor – bass, guitar Remixes: *

Additional personnel: * Paul Epworth – producer

Band Aid 40

For the 40th anniversary in 2024, a new mix of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" has been released. This mixes recordings from the original version with the Band Aid 20 and Band Aid 30 versions. It has been mixed by Trevor Horn.

claimed his permission had not been sought to re-use his vocals from the 2014 version, and that had he had the choice he would not have consented to it.

Related projects and Band Aid Liverpool

The Band Aid project inspired other charity records around the world, including "

We Are the World "We Are the World" is a charity single recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones for the album '' We Are the World''. With sales in excess of 20 milli ...

" by USA for Africa in the United States, " Tears Are Not Enough" by Northern Lights in Canada, Hear 'n Aid a supergroup of 40 heavy metal musicians with a track called "Stars", and many others. A compilation of

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

and

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

was published under the name Soft Aid. Each platform had its own selection of games from ten different publishers;

Elite Systems Elite Systems is a British video game developer and publisher established in 1984 as Richard Wilcox Software. It is known for producing home computer conversions of popular arcade games. Elite also published compilations of games on the Hit-Pak ...

, Ocean Software,

Quicksilva Quicksilva was a British games software publisher active during the early 1980s. Quicksilva was founded by Nick Lambert in 1980. The name Quicksilva was inspired by a particular guitar solo in a track on the album Happy Trails by Quicksilver Me ...

, and

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

were represented on both. The cassette also featured a recording of the "Do They Know It's Christmas?" single.

Band Aid Liverpool

In December 2020, a group of musicians from Liverpool recorded a version of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" as a charity record in support of Shelter. Retitled "Do They Know It's Christmas (Feed the World)" with lyrics referring to places on

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, the project was given the go-ahead by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to release their cover version on 10 December 2020. Band Aid Liverpool features about 70 musicians/personalities from Liverpool, including Asa Murphy from BBC Radio Merseyside, five-piece band the Hummingbirds and project originator Tony Cook, from tribute band the Mersey Beatles.

Criticism

Claims of self-righteousness

In 1986, the anarchist band Chumbawamba released the album '' Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records'', as well as an EP entitled "We Are the World?", jointly recorded with US band A State of Mind, both of which were intended as anti-capitalist critiques of the Band Aid/

phenomenon. They argued that the record was primarily a cosmetic

spectacle In general, spectacle refers to an event that is memorable for the appearance it creates. Derived in Middle English from c. 1340 as "specially prepared or arranged display" it was borrowed from Old French ''spectacle'', itself a reflection of the ...

, designed to draw attention away from the real political causes of world hunger. In a 1985 '' Time Out'' interview,

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...

(who was not invited to participate in Band Aid) gave his views about the song:

'I'm not afraid to say that I think Band Aid was diabolical. Or to say that I think Bob Geldof is a nauseating character. Many people find that very unsettling, but I'll say it as loud as anyone wants me to. In the first instance the record itself was absolutely tuneless. One can have great concern for the people of Ethiopia, but it's another thing to inflict daily torture on the people of Great Britain. It was an awful record considering the mass of talent involved. And it wasn't done shyly. It was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music.'

References

Bibliography

External links

*
Documentary: Making of Band Aid
Part I
Documentary: Making of Band Aid
Part II
Band Aid
at WorldMusicDatabase {{Authority control Musical advocacy groups Charities based in London Development charities based in the United Kingdom British pop music groups Musical groups established in 1984 1984 establishments in the United Kingdom Charity supergroups British supergroups