Band Aid boss Bob Geldof slams Ed Sheeran’s ‘rich people argument’

Bob Geldof has defended his charity single Band Aid from criticism, including Ed Sheeran’s complaint last week that he wouldn’t have added his vocals to the new mix if asked.

This Monday marks 40 years since Britain’s biggest pop stars (and a few overseas guests) came together to record an album. Do they know that today is Christmas? In response to a BBC report on the famine in Ethiopia. The record grossed £8 million (US$10 million), and its founder Geldof set up the Band Aid Charitable Trust, which has raised over £140 million (US$175 million) to date.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary, a remix of the single will be released tomorrow, featuring different voices from later versions, including Sheeran, who sang on the 2014 release, along with other stars including One Direction and Rita Ora. However, this week he complained that he was not asked, and if asked, he would have refused, reposting a statement from rapper Fuse ODG, claiming the track perpetuates misleading stereotypes about African poverty and is “not true.”

This weekend in an interview with the publication London TimesGeldof rails against the “abstract argument of the rich world” while his foundation feeds those still hungry. He said:

“This little pop song saved the lives of millions of people. Why would Band Aid refuse to feed the thousands of children who depend on us? Why not keep doing it? Because of an abstract argument for a rich world, regardless of its legitimacy? No abstract theory, no matter how sincerely held, should hinder or distract from this disgusting, concrete reality of the real world. There are 600 million hungry people in the world, 300 million of them live in Africa. We wish things were different, but they are not. We can help some of them. That’s what we will continue to do.”