Sir Bob Geldof will bring together some of the world's biggest artists this Saturday to record the new Band Aid Ebola charity single - marking its 30th anniversary
Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure have announced who will be featuring on this year's Band Aid 30 charity single.
Adele, Bono, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith will be joined by several other big names from the world of music, including Sinead O'Connor, Ellie Goulding and Coldplay's Chris Martin, to contribute to a recording of Do They Know It's Christmas?, which will celebrate 30 years since the original track was released while also raising vital funds to prevent the spread of Ebola.
It will be an updated version of the song with altered lyrics to reflect the health crisis in Africa.
At a press conference today, Boomtown Rats frontman Sir Bob Geldof - who is organising the charity recording for a fourth time - said: "It really doesn't matter if you don't like this song, it really doesn't matter if you hate all the artists. What you have to do is buy this thing."
Recording of the single, which the 63-year-old musician joked was "the worst kept secret this year", will begin this weekend, and will include X Factor alumnus Olly Murs and Pompeii hitmakers, Bastille.
Other famous faces who will appear on the track include Jessie Ware, Foals, Underworld, Fuse ODG and Paloma Faith, while acclaimed artist Tracey Emin will provide the cover art.
U2 frontman Bono will also return for Band Aid 30, having featured in the original recording in 1984 alongside Phil Collins, David Bowie, George Michael and Sting.
Bob Geldof refused to reveal who has the honour of singing the first line - in 1984 Paul Young had the honour - but Paddy Power have Chris Martin as the current favourite with Ed Sheeran and One Direction next up to take the mic at 4/1 and 5/1 respectively.
The announcement comes just days after One Direction were confirmed to be part of the single.
Bob and Ultravox star Midge Ure also confirmed Rita Ora had been on-board for the fourth rendition of the track, but has since had to pull out due to contractual agreements with the BBC linked to her role as a mentor on 'The Voice'.
The single is set to be released on November 17, but Bob revealed the track will not appear on streaming websites until the new year, claiming "I'm a Taylor Swiftian."
It comes after Taylor Swift pulled her albums from music streaming service Spotify.
The charity single will cost just 99p to download. It will be £4 to buy on CD.
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