Bob Geldof, One Direction record song to raise money for Ebola

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Press Trust of India London
Last Updated : Nov 16 2014 | 4:20 PM IST
Several singers including Bob Geldof, Bono, boy band One Direction have recorded a song to raise money for the fight against the Ebola virus.
The stars have come together as a part of charity supergroup Band Aid, which was founded in 1984 by Geldof, 63, and Midge Ure to raise money for anti-poverty efforts in Ethiopia by releasing the song 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'.
The artistes have recorded a new version of the same song under the name 'Band Aid 30'. It will be released on Monday, reported Guardian.
The chancellor, George Osborne, confirmed on Saturday that he had agreed to waive VAT on the single. "Just spoke to the remarkable Bob Geldof. Told him we'll waive VAT on BandAid30 so every penny goes to fight Ebola," he tweeted.
Other musicians included Rita Ora, Ed Sheeran Coldplay's Chris Martin, Sinead O'Connor and Emeli Sande.
"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," Geldof said.
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First Published: Nov 16 2014 | 4:20 PM IST

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