Bob Geldof says he’ll “have a talk” with Ed Sheeran about Band Aid dispute

Bob Geldof has said he is looking to “have a talk” with Ed Sheeran following the recent dispute over the 2024 edition of Band Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’.

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Arriving earlier this week, the new mix of the song was produced by Trevor Horn and celebrates the 40th anniversary of the original 1984 track.

It was made by bringing together all of the voices from three versions of the track (1984, 2004 and 2014) including Sting, Boy George, Sam Smith, Harry Styles, Chris Martin, Elbow‘s Guy Garvey, Sugababes, Bananarama, Seal, Sinéad O’Connor, Rita Ora, Robbie Williams, Kool and the Gang, Underworld and more.

Originally, the charity single was masterminded by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, who were wanting to raise money for the Ethiopian famine. It sold a million copies in its first week and, at the time, was the fastest-selling single in UK chart history.

In recent times, however, it has had a less positive response from some, and been accused of “perpetuat[ing] damaging stereotypes” towards Africa.

Ahead of the 2024 version, Sheeran – who featured in the 2014 recording – said that he had not been asked for his permission for the 2024 edition, and if he had been, he would have respectfully declined. In his reasoning, he said that “a decade on and my understanding of the narrative associated with this has changed.”

Now, in a new interview with Billboard, Geldof has spoken out about his thoughts on Sheeran’s stance and said he is looking to reach out to him for a discussion.

“We’ll have a talk,” he told the outlet, adding that he hasn’t heard back from the ‘Shape Of You’ singer yet. “Let me be clear – he’s a really good bloke, and he’s a clever man. He’s a massive talent, so all respect. I put in the call. We’ll have a chat. We’ll agree, we’ll disagree, whatever the fuck. We’ll sort it out. That’s the way stuff gets done.”

He also added that while he still stands by the charity single, he does acknowledge “the debate” around it. “That’s fantastic, because then you can access the politics with the culture debate as sensitivities and sensibilities and opinions change and just absorb it all,” he added. “I like that because I’m energised by it, and you just fucking go for it, man.”

In his comments, Sheeran referenced Ghanaian-English artist Fuse ODG’s stance on ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’. Fuse declined to be a part of the 2014 version, saying: “While [charity singles] may generate sympathy and donations, they perpetuate damaging stereotypes that stifle Africa’s economic growth, tourism, and investment, ultimately costing the continent trillions and destroying its dignity, pride and identity.”

Following the comments, a source close to Band Aid told NME that Geldof had reached out personally to Sheeran on the matter, and the former Boomtown Rats frontman later defended the single in an interview.

“This little pop song has kept millions of people alive,” he said. “No abstract theory regardless of how sincerely held should impede or distract from that hideous, concrete real-world reality,” he added. “There are 600 million hungry people in the world – 300 million are in Africa. We wish it were other but it is not. We can help some of them. That’s what we will continue to do.”

Elsewhere in the Billboard article, Midge Ure also defended the single, and said that the debate around it stems from “human nature”.

He said: “We’ve had 40 years of this. The amazing thing is we’re talking about this piece of music, this little pop song, 40 years later. And it’s not an exclusive club; any musician can stand up and say, ‘Well (proceeds from) my next record are going to go to whatever and I will do with them what I see fit.’ Fine. But in order to do that you don’t have to try to destroy something that has been nothing but good. And that’s what seems to happen. But for God’s sake, it’s a piece of music and it’s not made to be analysed.”

Additionally, Live Aid’s promoter, Harvey Goldsmith, responded to recent criticism, calling those taking issue with the track “busybodies and woke people and do-gooders”, and Mike Stock, a co-writer for the second version of Band Aid (1989) criticised Bob Geldof for leaving the single out of the new 2024 ‘Ultimate Mix’ edition.

The song gathered mixed responses from fans upon its release, and another person to speak out about the potentially negative impact of the track was Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. While acknowledging that the original version was “well-meaning at the time”, Ahmed added that it was “frustrating to see our nation’s ancient history, culture, diversity and beauty reduced to doom and gloom”.

The single is currently in the running for the Number One spot on the singles chart in time for Christmas 2024. Other contenders include Gracie Abrams and Chappell Roan, with respective singles ‘That’s So True’ and ‘HOT TO GO!’, as well as former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft – who recently contributed an acoustic rendition of ‘Sonnet’ for the John Lewis Christmas advert.

Last year, it was WHAM! who took the crown with their iconic holiday hit ‘Last Christmas’. Reaching the top spot nearly four decades after it was first released, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley made history by setting the record for the longest-ever journey to the UK Christmas Number One.

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