In 1984, musician Bob Geldof gathered a supergroup of British musicians and rock stars to record a single that would raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. “Band Aid” was an incredible success and has inspired similar charitable efforts over the past 30 years. New recordings of the song were released for the same cause in 1989 and 2004.
(It also doesn’t hurt that the single “Do They Know It’s Christmas” is just a damn catchy tune. Personally, I think it’s one of the best Christmas songs we have, though I doubt it gets played much with the family on Christmas day.)
For the 30th anniversary of Band Aid, Geldof once again assembled several British musicians and pop stars to record a single, this time to raise money for the fight against Ebola, which has killed more than 5,000 people. As you might expect after three decades, the group is quite different. Where are Sting, Boy George, Duran Duran, Bananarama and the dude from Spandau Ballet? Only Geldof and U2 lead singer Bono are in both groups (and technically, Geldof was behind the scenes, not a performer).
The stars of Band Aid 30 include One Direction, Sam Smith, Ellie Goulding, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Sinead O’Connor and Seal. (Geldof wasn’t too happy about Adele passing on participating, and has taken a few shots at her in the press because of it.) You can see the complete cast here.
Some lyrics in the updated song have been revised to reflect the Ebola crisis in West Africa, rather than the famine and drought that inspired the original. Geldof and Mitch Ure, who wrote the 1984 song, wrote the new lyrics. The memorable “Well tonight, thank God it’s them, instead of you” lyric that Bono rocked in 1984 has also been taken out. Bono said he loathed the line, and it did seem sort of mean-spirited at the time.
Here’s the 2014 version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” recorded in London this past weekend.
The single debuted in the U.K. after the British version of The X Factor and according to Geldof, raised $1 million within the first five minutes of becoming available on iTunes. A CD single will go on sale in stores on Dec. 8.
The original “Do They Know It’s Christmas” single raised $11 million. And that was when people had to go to a store and buy it on LP or cassette, rather than just make a click of the mouse. Hopefully because of that convenience, sales of the 2014 version and the money raised vastly surpass its predecessor.
