Sam Smith, One Direction, Adele, Ed Sheeran and Ellie Goulding are just some of the global names attached to the 30th anniversary edition of Band Aid’s iconic charity release, Do They Know It’s Christmas.
Set to be recorded over the coming days, part of the full line-up was confirmed this morning in a press conference from Sir Bob Geldoff and Midge Ure, the two collaborators who were responsible for 1984’s original star-studded single, alongside the subsequent releases in 1989 and 2004, all of which were released for various charity causes.
Band Aid 30 has been confirmed to support Africa’s ongoing ebola crisis, whilst U2’s Bono, who famously took part in both the original alongside 2004’s ‘Band Aid 20′, will also make an appearance. Coldplay’s Chris Martin has also been confirmed amongst the line-up, which will also include the likes of Jessie Ware, Elbow, Queen drummer Roger Taylor, Emeli Sande and Sinead O’ Connor.
In order to drive further sales for the single, and to raise as much money as possible, Do They Know It’s Christmas will not debut on streaming services such as Spotify until next January; meanwhile both Ure and Geldoff are hopeful the track will be recorded, mixed and mastered quickly in order to go onsale on iTunes this coming Monday. A physical release will subsequently take place in December (priced at £0.99 for the download, and £4 for the CD).
Explaining the urgent need to raise money to combat ebola, Geldoff said that Band Aid 30 will be “doing it for the people who need support. Not just those with this filthy disease but also the aid workers out there giving up their lives to care for them”, before continuing “It doesn’t matter if you hate the song or the artists involved…. buy the thing, download it. Pay for everything, it’s a quid.”
The video for Band Aid 30’s Do They Know It’s Christmas will receive its premiere on The X Factor UK on Sunday 16th November.
Watch the original 1984 version of Do They Know It’s Christmas, below:
