40 YEARS ON: Bob Geldof defends Band Aid single: This pop song has kept millions alive

Bob Geldof has said his Band Aid charity single has “kept millions of people alive” after a new 40th anniversary version of Do They Know It’s Christmas? faced criticism.

To mark the song’s milestone, a remix has been created which blends the voices of artists who have featured on previous editions including Harry Styles, George Michael and Bono.

Ed Sheeran said last week that they did not ask for permission to re-use his vocals from when he sang on Band Aid 30 in 2014, and that he would have “respectfully” declined the request.

The singer-songwriter said in a social media post that “a decade on and my understanding of the narrative associated with this has changed”, citing a post by British-Ghanaian rapper Fuse ODG that criticised foreign aid in Africa.

".this guy sees a tragedy in TV, and rather than demand that the GOVERNMENT fix it, he brandished CAPITALISM to fix it."

Excellent point. All I ever knew about Geldof is that he was the Boomtown Rats singer ("I Don't Like Mondays"), he was Pink in "The Wall," and he organized those charity concerts. If that charity work did some good, then good for him.

Thank you.

In many ways, the line up in Philadelphia was superior to the UK line up, though the Wembley show had greater highs like U2 (which had the famous “Bono saves a fan from being crushed to death” moment) and a “rough and ready” Who set. Queen did win the day IMHO but I get your point.

There were so many great performances in Philadelphia that it’s hard to pick THE winner that day. Even Madonna was solid, and I Haaaate her.

Mick Jagger with Tina Turner was extremely high energy. The Four Tops rocked as did Judas Priest while Black Sabbath dragged. Power Station with Michael Des Barres was excellent - fun fact, their drummer the late great Tony Thompson also backed the train wreck that was Zeppelin. The Cars were exceptionally strong. Patti LaBelle was not my cup of tea, and the Dylan/Richard/Woods trio was boring.

“This is your Woodstock, and it’s long overdue,” Joan Baez said to us before singing Amazing Grace. Very powerful.

Yea, maybe there was a profit motive. And people are still starving, and communist governments in Africa STILL stomp on their people.

But for one day, music wasn’t about them vs us; it was unifying. We last saw that after 9/11 at The Concerts for New York City - another private action started by Macca. Contrast with the bacchanalia of Burning Man, or Flu Pfizers, um, Foo Fighters doing vaxx-mandated gigs, I’ll take Bob Geldof any day.

I hope and pray we see some more good stuff like that in the next 4 years.

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