On November 25, 1984, 36 British recording artists gathered at Swarm West Studio in Notting Hill, London to donate their time and talent to record a song written by Bob Geldof (Boomtown Rats) and Midge Ure (Ultravox) to raise money for the relief of famine in Ethiopia. 

The result was the historic recording of Do They Know It's Christmas?, performed by Bananarama, David Bowie, Phil Collins, Culture Club, Duran Duran, The Eurhythmics, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Bob Geldof, Heaven 17, Human League, Kool and the Gang, Paul McCartney,
Status Quo, Spandau Ballet, Sting, The Style Council, Midge Urge, U2, Wham! And Paul Young.

In March 1985, as Bob Geldof and Midge Ure accepted their Novello Award for Do They Know It's Christmas?, the first shipment of food and medicine paid for by Band Aid arrived in Ethiopia. This event was documented for later release on video in  VHS and Betamax.
The Band Aid project was originally released as a 45 and as 12" record.

The Band Aid single went straight to #1 in the UK and became the biggest-selling single ever. In total, Band Aid had raised over £10 million for the famine relief program.

The record was re-released a year later after the success with Live Aid. The re-release version included a track called "One Year On" This re-mixed track included the reading of a list of items that were successfully delivered to Ethiopia and the surrounding regions.

Meanwhile, the single was certified gold in the US and the UK where it immediately inspired multiple similar fund-raising recordings, including Nackt Im Wind (Naked in the Wind), We Are The World, Tears are Not Enough, Za Milion Godina (For a Million Years),  and Ethiope among others.

In 1989, a new line of musicians recorded this famous song. The project dubbed Band Aid II, included Wet Wet Wet, Bananarama,
Kylie Minogue, Lisa Stansfield and many others. This track and the original Band Aid track was included on a cassette single as well as a 7 in. record. Click here to see more about Band Aid II.

Click here to see more about the Foreign Aid contributions.

Click here for lyrics.