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The Latest Breaking News from Live Aid

Band Aid at 40: how the problematic Christmas hit changed the charity sector

In November 1984, BBC journalist Michael Buerk presented a series of dispatches from the small town of Korem in northern Ethiopia. He described the scenes he encountered as a famine of “biblical proportions” and that aid workers in the region had told him it was “the closest thing to hell…

The Conversation

"Still stands as a rebuke to that period in which it was first heard": Bob Geldof announces new remixed version of Do They Know It’s Christmas for single’s 40th anniversary

But how effective will it be as a fundraiser?

MusicRadar

Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? reissued as all-star mashup – including three generations of Bono

Fortieth-anniversary edition is spliced together by Trevor Horn from previous versions of the song, including snippets of George Michael, Ed Sheeran and more

The Guardian - UK

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Wrangling with Abba, risking jail for the Stone Roses … the lawyer behind pop’s big spats

John Kennedy sparred with the Swedes over Mamma Mia! and took on the Rolling Stones for Richard Ashcroft – he tells us why he’s still arguing with Bob Geldof after 40 years

The Guardian - UK

Enjoy an evening with Bob Geldof at Newcastle's Civic Theatre

The Live Aid founder is touring Australia in March.

Newcastle Herald

“I got one minute to try something I’ve always wanted to try”: Paramore’s Hayley Williams channels Freddie Mercury at Live Aid with call-and-response vocal routine at Wembley during Taylor Swift Eras Tour show

“Ayyyyyyyy-ohhhhhhhhhhh!”

MusicRadar

“I’m sitting on the bus aware that someone behind me is singing Do They Know It’s Christmas?”: Nik Kershaw recalls his “insane” encounter with David Bowie at Live Aid

“I remember sitting in the Royal Box watching Queen do their thing and thinking ‘people are going to remember this. This is a bit special’”

MusicRadar

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"We’re thinking, why would we do someone else’s song? Why can’t you take one of our songs?": How Simple Minds' Don't You (Forget About Me) eventually became the perfect meeting of worlds – but two other stars turned it down first

They didn't want to record Keith Forsey's song, but it became a US No. 1 for the Glasgow band via The Breakfast Club and fan John Hughes

MusicRadar

The week in theatre: Dear Octopus; The Picture of Dorian Gray; Just for One Day – review

Lindsay Duncan and co create a living period piece in Dodie Smith’s rarely performed marvel of a family portrait; Sarah Snook’s one-woman Wilde is so wrong it’s almost right; and the music carries a tame Live Aid nostalgiafest

The Guardian - UK

Live Aid promoter announces global concerts to tackle climate crisis

Harvey Goldsmith’s Earth Aid Live set to last 10 years and take place across multiple cities and continents, with lineups still to be announced

The Guardian - UK

Monica Dolan: ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office affected people because they saw their worst nightmare unfold’

The actor, 54, tells Hayley Myers about her scientific parents, missing Live Aid, working on accents and Velma, her Siberian husky

The Guardian - UK

Live Aid led to the patronising ‘save Africa’ industry. We don’t need a musical about it

Thirty-eight years since the concert, the false narrative about a broken continent plagued by poverty, conflict, corruption and disease still persists

The Guardian - UK

Bob Geldof gives nod of approval to the Old Vic’s Live Aid musical

Just for One Day to tell stories around 1985 fundraising concert during two-month run next year

The Guardian - UK

Rare images of rock icons Queen as chief roadie from band's heyday shares his photo album

Nicknamed Ratty for his long, greasy hair, Peter Hince recalls seeing Queen in action for the first time in November 1973, the year their first album came out

Daily Mirror

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The Guardian - UK

Tina Turner obituary

Rock’n’roll singer whose comeback after her turbulent early career made her one of the great superstars of the 1980s and 90s

Daily Mirror

Kids risk their lives digging for water in East Africa's worst drought since Live Aid

At this time of the year the River Baragoi is usually in full flow and the villagers have had no problem using water for drinking, cooking and washing - not any more

Daily Mirror

Worst drought since Live Aid devastating East Africa with children dying of hunger

The Mirror spoke to families desperately trying to survive the sixth year without a rainy season - watching beloved children, siblings and parents die of starvation

Daily Mirror

'Huge' star-studded Live Aid-style gig announced at Wembley to raise money for Ukraine

A huge benefit concert is set to be held at Wembley stadium this year, with big-name performers such as The Rolling Stones and U2 invited to play in order to raise money for the victims of the Ukraine conflict

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Daily Record

Midge Ure reveals he initially refused to allow Ladbaby to use his Band Aid song

Scottish music great tells how he had to be reminded that raising funds was aim of Do They Know It's Christmas? as he mulled over letting YouTuber rework his hit song.

Zenger

Golden Years: Live Aid, Channel Tunnel And Abba’s 1974 Eurovision Win Are Top 50 Cultural Events

“These events represent our shared experience and sensibility. We see ourselves reflected in them - often at our best, sometimes at our worst."

Evening Standard

How celebs are rallying for Ukraine — from Ed Sheeran’s £13.4m charity gig to David Beckham’s Insta take-over

JK Rowling has pledged £1 million and Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher and Sean Penn have been thanked by president Zelensky himself — but which star has donated the most? Katie Strick on how the A-listers are rallying for Ukraine

Chronicle Live

When Newcastle honoured Bob Geldof - the rock star behind Band Aid and Live Aid

Thirty-five years ago, Bob Geldof, with his wife and child in tow, flew into Newcastle where he received the Freedom Of The City for his work in raising money to help Africa's famine victims

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