It's Christmas time, there's no need to be afraid… unless, of course, you have an irrational fear of famous musicians grouping together for a charity single. 2014 marks the 30th anniversary of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?', and to celebrate that fact, Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure have enlisted some of this generation's biggest names for the Band Aid 30 version, which will be available for download this coming Monday.
One Direction, Adele, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Paloma Faith, Elbow, Emeli Sandé, Ellie Goulding, Roger Taylor (Queen), Sinead O'Connor, Alt-J, Olly Murs, Bastille, Jessie Ware and Fuse ODG will all take part in the recording session this Saturday. Geldof said that he has also asked David Bowie to introduce the song, which will be recorded by producer Paul Epworth at London studio Sarm, where the original Band Aid song was recorded. The artwork will be provided by Tracy Emin and all proceeds will be donated to fighting ebola in west Africa.
Geldof also said that there will be remixes by Underworld and Disclosure, while a US version – co-ordinated by producer Quincy Jones – is also in the works. "It doesn’t matter if you don’t like this song, it doesn’t matter if you hate the artists," he said at a London press conference last night. "What you have to do is buy this thing, download it. Pay for everything, it's a quid."
This will be the fourth time that 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' has been recorded for charity, following subsequent versions in 1989 and 2004. Oh, and if you're wondering who gets Bono's line (i.e. the best line) 'Well, tonight thank god it's them instead of you" – the U2 frontman's involvement in Band Aid 30 has also been confirmed.
Best familiarise yourself with the original if you want to sing along this year:
