Some of the music world’s biggest stars have gathered in London to record the Band Aid 30 single to raise money for the fight against the Ebola virus.
The new recording of Do They Know It’s Christmas? – made on the 30th anniversary of the original song, which raised £8m for famine relief in Ethiopia – will be released on Monday.
The chancellor, George Osborne, confirmed on Saturday that he had agreed to waive VAT on the single. He tweeted: “Just spoke to the remarkable Bob Geldof. Told him we’ll waive VAT on BandAid30 so every penny goes to fight Ebola.”
Just spoke to the remarkable Bob Geldof. Told him we'll waive VAT on #BandAid30 so every penny goes to fight Ebola
— George Osborne (@George_Osborne) November 15, 2014
Thousands of onlookers turned out to watch the arrival of artists including One Direction, Paloma Faith, Disclosure, Jessie Ware, Ellie Goulding and Clean Bandit at Sarm studios in Notting Hill, west London. It is where stars of the 1980s, such as members of Wham!, Duran Duran and Culture Club, recorded the original track.
Geldof said: “It very much reminds me of 30 years ago. Everyone is bleary – pop singers, as George Osborne said, they are not very good in the morning, are they? – [but] it is cool. People are excited and that excitement builds. They are glad to be here.
“The record, it’s a song, it’s a track, but it’s an event, and the next stage now is to turn this into a phenomenon like it was in the ‘80s, and the only way to do that is to get people to buy the thing.”
The song will not be available on streaming services, such as Spotify, until January to encourage as many people as possible to buy the single.
Midge Ure, who helped Geldof organise Band Aid in 1984, said the tight timing would be challenging. The song will premiere on The X Factor on ITV1 on Sunday night.
“It’s always a tight turnaround,” Ure said. “Ask me tomorrow morning when I’m bleary-eyed leaving here, when it’s hopefully finished and ready to go.”
The song features lyrics reworked to reflect the Ebola crisis in the second and third verses and refer to the risks of cross-infection from comforting Ebola victims.
The line: “Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears” has been replaced by: “Where a kiss of love can kill you and there’s death in every tear”.
Bono’s famous line: “Well tonight thank God it’s them instead of you” is now “Well tonight we’re reaching out and touching you”.
The chorus will be recorded first, with artists then performing their individual lines.
The sleeve has been designed by the artist Tracey Emin.
