An “ultimate” version of Band Aid’s famous festive hit Do They Know It’s Christmas? is set to be released to mark the song’s 40th anniversary, featuring the voices of original singers as well as younger artists.
The track will feature voices from Band Aid 1984 including George Michael, Sting and Boy George, alongside Harry Styles, Chris Martin and Ed Sheeran, who appeared on the Band Aid 20 and Band Aid 30 versions in 2004 and 2014.
It will also feature the vocals of a young Bono, who sang the song’s most famous line – “Well tonight thank God it’s them, instead of you” – singing with his older self.
The original version included artists such as Sting, Boy George, George Michael, and Bono. Pic: PA
The singers will be backed by the Band Aid house band of Paul McCartney, Sting, John Taylor (bass), Phil Collins, Roger Taylor, Danny Goffey (drums), Thom Yorke (piano), Paul Weller, Damon Albarn, Midge Ure, Johnny Greenwood, Gary Kemp and Justin Hawkins (guitar).
And in a new video, David Bowie will introduce the song’s stars, and Michael Buerk’s BBC news report on the song will also feature.
Led by Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof and Ultravox’s Midge Ure, the original Band Aid single saw artists join forces in 1984 to help charities working with starving children in Ethiopia.
The song went straight to the top of the charts that year and at the time held the record as the fastest-selling single of all time in the UK, selling a million copies in the first week alone.
It remained at number one for five weeks and went on to sell more than three million copies.
Do They Know It’s Christmas? was recorded again with different generations of stars to raise money for other causes. In celebration of this monumental “instrument of change”, organisers said, producer Trevor Horn has taken the recordings and blended all the voices “into one seamless whole”.
