The new single “Band Aid 30- Do they know it’s Christmas?” debuted Sunday night on ITV’s X-factor. It has been 30 years since the 1984 edition of the song by Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure was released, which raised £8 million. The aim back then was to raise money for anti-poverty efforts in Ethiopia. This single was also recorded again in 1989 and 2004.
This time, artists came together to support 2014’s highlight which is nonetheless, the outbreak of Ebola which has killed more than 5,000 people, almost all in West Africa. In fact the video starts with a scene of an Ebola victim being carried out of a room by a couple of doctors, to portray the reality of this deadly virus.
This year’s organiser is Sir Bob Geldof himself who said “I explained the situation in West Africa, I explained what the UN were saying, explained what we could do, and just geed them up.” Furthermore, according to Geldof this new recording, in which some lyrics have been rewritten, is “a little bit of pop history”.
Despite the artists’ busy schedules, all of them came together to produce the track only within 36 hours, giving their time and services for free. Amongst the artists who participated, there were Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, One Direction, Ellie Goulding as well as all time favourites such as Bono from U2 , Sinead O’Connor and Queen’s drummer Roger Taylor.
All in all, this is what Christmas is all about- coming together to promote the values of charity, solidarity and love.
For further information, one can visit Band Aid’s official: www.bandaid30.com
