Sir Bob Geldof admits he’s ‘energised’ by Band Aid backlash after Ed Sheeran controversy

Sir Bob Geldof has said that he is invigorated by the debate that has been sparked around the hit Band Aid song Do They Know It’s Christmas?

The Boomtown Rats frontman, 73, has been forced to defend the new Band Aid 40 remix after a statement from Ed Sheeran revealed his ‘understanding of the narrative’ had changed since 2014 when he appeared on the song.

Geldof defended Band Aid and has now added that he is actually ‘energised’ by the controversy.

Speaking to Billboard the singer said ‘this little pop song has saved millions of lives.’

‘The debate rages 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.

‘I like that because I’m energised by it, and you just f*****g go for it, man.’

In the same interview, the singer said that he had reached out to Ed Sheeran to have a chat about his comments.

‘We’ll have a talk,’ he commented. ‘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 f—. We’ll sort it out. That’s the way stuff gets done.’

Midge Ure, the co-creator of Band-Aid confirmed in the interview that the song wasn’t ‘made to be analysed’ and that he didn’t think people needed to ‘destroy something that has been nothing but food.

‘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 analyzed.’

The original Band Aid single Do They Know It’s Christmas? was released in 1984 and featured artists including George Michael, Paul Young, and Bono.

The song debuted at number one in the UK, where it remained for five weeks, selling one million copies in the first week alone.

The tune raised £8million in a year, hugely exceeding the original target of £70,000 that had been set.

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