BandAid were founded by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure of Ultravox in 1984 to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. A supergroup made up of some of the most famous British and Irish acts of the day, BandAid’s charity single ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ was one of the biggest selling singles of the decade.

After seeing television footage of the famine in Ethiopia in 1984, Bob Geldof decided to found BandAid to raise money for relief. Midge Ure soon came on board, and the pair scouted for the biggest bands and artists of the day. The final line-up included Bono, George Michael, Phil Collins, Bananarama, Sting, Boy George, David Bowie and Paul McCartney. The single went straight to Number One on its release in November 1982. The LiveAid concerts took place the following year.

The single was re-recorded with artists such as Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Wet Wet Wet in 1989, and was Number One for 3 weeks. In 2004, BandAid 20 was released, commemorating 20 years since the original single and raising money for Darfur. Band Aid 20 featured Robbie Williams, Snow Patrol, Sugababes and Will Young, among others. It sold over 1.1 million copies.

Website
http://www.bandaid20.com/

Trivia
Paul McCartney and David Bowie were not in the studio for the original 1985 recording, but they each sent recordings of their lines which were dubbed on to the final mix.