VIDEO-New Band Aid single raises £1 million for Ebola within five minutes

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By Tim ChesterUK2014-11-17 11:20:13 UTC

LONDON — Band Aid 30, the 2014 update of the Band Aid campaign that raised money for Ethiopia in 1984, has raised over £1 million ($1.5 million) for Ebola within five minutes of being launched.

The updated version of Do They Know It’s Christmas?, which features One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding and Sam Smith among others, was recorded in London on Saturday and the video premiered on Sunday’s X Factor.

“It’s gone manic. That’s the digital age,” organiser Bob Geldof told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today show.

Geldof and fellow mastermind behind the track Midge Ure have been acutely aware of the digital age – and Twitter’s capacity for instant feedback - with their new version of the song, and it’s a somewhat more considered and sombre affair than before. Bono’s questionable line (“Well tonight thank god it's them instead of you”) has been replaced and the track is bereft of the rap, flying guitar solos, and applause of the 2004 version.

The lyrics have been updated to reflect current world events, with one line reading: “Where a kiss of love can kill you - And there's death at every tear,” which, according to Geldof, was inspired by a nurse who died in Africa after wiping away the tear of a child dying of Ebola.

Other musicians that contributed to the Band Aid 30 single included Queen’s Roger Taylor, Rita Ora, Jessie Ware, Clean Bandit, Paloma Faith, Seal and Sinead O’Connor.

Geldof rallied them all before the recording. "I explained the situation in West Africa, I explained what the UN were saying, explained what we could do, and just geed them up," he said.

He’s also accused Germany of being “laggards” in the fight against Ebola. “It’s as dangerous for them as it is for us,” he told the BBC. “This thing is a flight away from us.”

However, Damon Albarn has questioned the notion of a charity single and suggested the stars singing for Africa take a plane to the continent to see things first hand.

"Our perspective and our idea of what helps and our idea of what's wrong and right are not necessarily shared by other cultures,” he told Channel 4 News.

“There are problems with our idea of charity, especially these things that suddenly balloon out of nothing and then create a media frenzy where some of that essential communication is lost and it starts to feel like it’s a process where if you give money you solve the problem, and really sometimes giving money creates another problem."

"All those people who are making that, taking that afternoon out of their schedules, go to Africa, experience it, feel that sense of magic and maybe have a different attitude to life when you come back."

Key Participants (1984): Bono, Boy George, Sting, George Michael, Phil Collins and Duran Duran

Money Raised (1984): £8 million for Ethiopian famine relief

Key Participants (2014): One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding, Rita Ora, Sam Smith, Clean Bandit, Chris Martin

Money Raised (2014): £1 million within five minutes of the X Factor premiere

The single, which is currently odds on favourite for Christmas Number One at 4/5 according to William Hill, is available to buy online now, with a physical release following on December 8.

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Image: Jonathan Short/Associated Press