Why Band Aid could be cancelled: Musicians distance themselves from Bob Geldofs colonial Christmas single as they warn its harmful to Africa
Band Aid is facing calls for it to be cancelled as a musicians distance themselves from a 40th anniversary rerelease of Sir Bob Geldofs Christmas charity single.
Band Aid is facing calls for it to be cancelled as a musicians distance themselves from a 40th anniversary rerelease of Sir Bob Geldofs Christmas charity single.
Ed Sheeran and Fuse ODG are among those who have criticised the song Do They Know Its Christmas?, which has been condemned for spreading harmful and colonial stereotypes about Africa.
London-born Ghanaian-English rapper Fuse ODG spoke out today, as he released a response called We Know Its Christmas and also urged the BBC not to promote the Band Aid song.
He told ITVs Good Morning Britain that treating the 1984 famine in Ethiopia - which originally inspiring Band Aid - as an Africa-wide issue would be similar to labelling all of Europe war-stricken due to the conflict in Ukraine.
He was speaking out after Sheeran revealed he did not want his 2014 vocals used on the new release of Do They Know Its Christmas? after having a rethink about the charity single - while other critics have included Lily Allen and Damon Albarn.
London-born Ghanaian musician Fuse ODG has spoken out against the Band Aid charity single Do They Know Its Christmas?, accusing the song of dehumanising African people
Popstar Ed Sheeran (pictured right) has spoken out against a new rerelease of the single, having featured on a 2014 recording of the track co-written by Sir Bob Geldof (left) - they are pictured here arriving at the studio to work on the Band Aid 30 version in November 2014
Band Aid is set to return with a brand new version to mark the charity tracks 40th Anniversary (the stars of the original 1984 recording are pictured)
The musician, 33, originally featured on the 2014 version of the track - spearheaded by Geldof and Midge Ure - alongside the likes of Sting and Harry Styles which aimed to raise money for the Ebola relief efforts.
Yet amid the upcoming release of the 2024 Ultimate Mix of the song to its 40th anniversary, Ed has told how he would have denied permission to add his voice to the new version had he been asked.
Taking to his Instagram stories on Sunday, Sheeran: My approval wasnt sought on this new Band Aid 40 release and had I had the choice I would have respectfully declined the use of my vocals.
A decade on and my understanding of the narrative associated with this has changed, eloquently explained by @fuseodg. This is just my personal stance, Im hoping its a forward-looking one. Love to all x.
Fuse ODG himself rejected an offer to take part in the 2014 version of Do They Know Its Christmas, which featured rewritten lyrics reflecting the Ebola crisis which was affecting countries in West Africa at the time.
He has now written on his Facebook page: Ten years ago today, I said NO to Bob Geldofs Band Aid - Do They Know Its Christmas project due to the fact its a campaign that dehumanises Africans and destroys our pride and identity in the name of charity.
He has decided to release another version, which demonstrates how much he still has not learned from the points I made clear to him on the negative impact of his project on Africa and its diaspora.
The white saviour complex is an incredibly dangerous thing which is now playing out on an individual and corporate level.
Fuse ODG, 35, told ITVs Good Morning Britain today that Do You Know Its Christmas?, first released in 1984 in response to famine in Ethiopia, falsely painted a whole image of Africa
He discussed the charity single with presenters Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid, along with fellow guest Gifty Enright, a writer
Fuse ODG, seen here performing at Kendal Calling Festival in July 2015, previously declined an offer to take part in the Band Aid 30 track recorded and released 10 years ago
African problems should be solved by Africans. We welcome anyone genuinely trying to support the continent but it needs to be a spirit of collaboration not patronisation.
In 2024, there is no way wed stay quiet and allow other people to continue to tell our story.
He also told his Facebook followers: Tag @BBC to stop the release of their documentary celebrating Band Aid…
Fuse ODG insisted on GMB today that he did not want the public to feel guilty for trying to help, adding: All Im trying to do is give a different perspective.
He told presenters Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid: Yes, there was an issue and there were good intentions to raise money to help but my problem is the long term effect of trying to help this crisis. There was one crisis in one country, but it painted a whole image of Africa.
Its the same with Ukraine – theres one crisis in Ukraine, but imagine the world seeing Europe as a war-stricken place because of one country.
The 35-year-old musician - real name Nana Richard Abiona - insisted: African problems need to be solved by Africans – its not about letting other people sort out our problems.
We need to build the next generation of leaders to solve our own problems and thats why weve launched our own educational app, to teach these kids about their history and understand the leaders that have come before them.
Ed Sheeran (left), pictured with Fuse ODG in the video for the latters 2017 single Boa Me, has credited his friend with helping change his thinking on Do They Know Its Christmas?
Sheeran posted on Instagram on Sunday: My approval wasnt sought on this new Band Aid 40 release and had I had the choice I would have respectfully declined the use of my vocals
Do They Know Its Christmas? was co-written by Midge Ure (left) and Bob Geldof (right) - the pair are seen here at the recording of the Band Aid 30 version in London in November 2014
Its very important that we are the solution.
He has said proceeds from his new single We Know Its Christmas would go towards grassroots innovative projects that aim to better communities across Africa.
Yet Geldof has hit back at critics and insisted the song had helped keep hundreds of thousands if not millions of people alive.
An article published on the website The Conservation said the lyrics of the original release did not paint a full picture of the famine in Ethiopia in the 1980s, adding: They recycled many of the old colonial tropes of Africa as a barren land requiring western salvation.
In this case the famine was primarily the result of mass migration and destitution caused by a war involving Ethiopia and Tigre and a near total disregard for human life by the combatants.
The article condemned Band Aids influence, saying: Instances of so-called poverty porn have also become commonplace across the charity sector as organisations compete with each other for public attention.
This describes videos wherein the recipients of charity – against the backdrop of sad violin or piano music – are reduced to mere victims rather than full humans looking for agency.
Geldof responded by saying: Haha … Its a pop song ffs. There IS endemic hunger due to the unforgiving soil conditions. Water IS scarce save for a scattering of unreliable wells. Rain IS increasingly unreliable.
Bob Geldof (left) has hit back at critics of the charity project, which with the original 1984 release involved the likes of Paul Weller, Robert Kool Bell, Phil Collins and Bono
Fuse ODG, seen performing at Indigo at the O2 in London in November 2015, has now released a new single in response to Do They Know Its Christmas?, called We Know Its Christmas
Fuse ODG insisted on GMB today that he did not want the public to feel guilty for trying to help, adding: All Im trying to do is give a different perspective
Climate change affects the poorest first and worst. War exacerbates these conditions. Xmas IS celebrated throughout Ethiopia according to their own calendar i.e. two weeks after our holiday.
He described how religious and other traditional ceremonies were abandoned at the time of the Ethiopian famine and more recently in the same areas, adding: These are not colonial tropes, they are empirical facts.
This little pop song has kept hundreds of thousands if not millions of people alive. In fact just today Band Aid has given hundreds of thousands of pounds to help those running from the mass slaughter in Sudan and enough cash to feed a further 8,000 children in the same affected areas of Ethiopia as 1984.
Those exhausted women who werent raped and killed and their panicked children and any male over 10 who survived the massacres and those 8,000 Tigrayan children will sleep safer, warmer and cared for tonight because of that miraculous little record.
We wish that it were other but it isnt. Colonial tropes my arse.
Fuse ODG and Sheeran are not the only musicians who have distanced themselves from the Band Aid initiative, however.
Popstar Lily Allen was outspoken about her reasons for not taking part when invited to join the 2014 rerecording.
Lily Allen, seen here at the Giorgio Armani RTW Spring 2025 fashion show in New York last month, did not take up an invitation to take part in the Band Aid 30 project in 2014
Bob Geldof has defended and praised the Band Aid efforts - he is pictured here at the recording of the original single Do They Know Its Christmas? in 1984
She told the Mail On Sunday at the time: I got an email asking me to do it. Its difficult to explain why I didnt do it without sounding like a complete c***.
I prefer to do my charitable bit by donating actual money and not being lumped in with a bunch of people like that.
Its like the success club and Im not really in that club. I dont think Im above it all – Im way below it. But theres something a bit smug about it.
I actually dont mind Bob. He doesnt give a f*** and hes grumpy like me.
That same year Geldof criticised Adele for appearing to snub calls for her to participate, though a spokesperson for her later said she had decided to show her support with a charity donation.
It was revealed last month that Band Aid would return with a brand new version to mark the charity tracks 40th Anniversary, with what has been called the 2024 Ultimate Mix due for release next Monday alongside a special video.
Do They Know Its Christmas? has been recorded on three separate occasions - Band Aid (1984), Band Aid 20 (2004) and Band Aid 30 (2014).
To mark this anniversary, producer Trevor Horn has taken the three recordings and blended all the voices of those separate generations into one seamless track.
Harry Styles featured on Band Aids 2014 re-recording, alongside his One Direction bandmates
The song was originally created by Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in a bid to raise funds for anti-famine efforts in Ethiopia, and went onto top the charts and raise millions
This means a young Sting will be heard alongside a young Sheeran, a young Boy George with a young Sam Smith, a young George Michael beside a young Harry Styles.
Also featuring will be a young Bono with an older Bono, Chris Martin with Guy Garvey, the Sugababes and Bananarama, Seal and Sinead OConnor, Rita Ora and Robbie Williams, Kool and the Gang and Underworld.
Other stars on the track include Paul McCartney, Sting, John Taylor, Phil Collins, Roger Taylor, Paul Weller, Damon Albarn, Midge Ure, Johnny Greenwood, Gary Kemp and Justin Hawkins.
Yet Blur frontman Albarn has also been among those appearing to criticise the project in the past, having played guitar on the 2004 track but speaking out against the later version 10 years later.
He said in 2014: Having been to many countries and gotten to know many people, it always seems that we have only one view of it.
Our perspective and our idea of what helps and our idea whats wrong and right are not necessarily shared by other cultures.
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 its a process where if you give money you solve the problem, and really sometimes giving money creates another problem.
Blur frontman Damon Albarn, pictured performing at the Coachella festival in Indio, California in April this year, expressed reservations about the Band Aid project in 2014
Ed Sheeran has claimed he wasnt asked permission from Band Aid 40 organisers to use his vocals on the a new version of the charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas?
![Sheeran, 33, originally featured on the 2014 version of the track - spearheaded by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure [pictured in 2004] - alongside the likes of Sting and Harry Styles, with the lyrics rewritten to reflect efforts to provide Ebola relief in West Africa](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/11/19/12/92193943-14100231-The_musician_33_originally_featured_on_the_2014_version_of_the_t-a-86_1732017684395.jpg)
Sheeran, 33, originally featured on the 2014 version of the track - spearheaded by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure [pictured in 2004] - alongside the likes of Sting and Harry Styles, with the lyrics rewritten to reflect efforts to provide Ebola relief in West Africa
Midge Ure, who co-wrote the charity single, revealed last year that Sir Bob originally claimed Its s***, but itll do, when he played him the tune on a toy keyboard.
The Boomtown Rats frontman, 73, also told Ure he thought it sounded like the theme tune to the 1960s British police TV drama Z-Cars.
Ure, 71, said the pair then went to work on the track that has gone on to raise more than £200million to help fight famine in Africa since its release in 1984.
The Ultravox singer told the How to be 60 podcast they had thought of ridiculous ways to come up with money but settled on making music.
He added: We spent two hours trying to think of ridiculous ways of trying to raise some money then finally succumbing to the fact we were rubbish at everything except maybe writing a song.
We [thought] if we wrote a Christmas song and got all of our friends involved, we could raise £100,000.
Then luckily I had just finished building my studio and sent Bob and cassette of this little thing I did on a toy keyboard. He said, "Its s***, it sounds like Z-Cars, but itll do".
Then he came over to mine with a right-handed guitar upside down because hes left-handed, hardly any strings on it, and started singing.
The original 1984 recording of Do They Know Its Christmas? featured stars include Paul Young, Bono, Sting, George Michael, Bananarama and Spandau Ballet
The 20th anniversary version recorded at Air Studios in Hampstead, north London, in November 2004 included acts such as Ms Dynamite, Natasha Bedingfield and Keane
I said "OK, just leave me". I recorded them on a cassette and I spent four days playing all the instruments and doing the arrangement for the song while he bludgeoned all our friends to come along and had a strength in name and fanbase which was incredibly important. Then of course the whole thing went mad.
The single originally released in 1984 topped the charts for five weeks and was that years Christmas number one.
It was followed by huge Live Aid star-studded concerts at Wembley Stadium in London and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadephia in July 1985.
MailOnline has approached the BBC as well as representatives of Bob Geldof and Fuse ODG for comment, while a spokesperson for Ed Sheeran said he would not be saying more.
