Do They Know it’s Christmas?

“Do They Know It’s Christmas?”  is a song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in reaction to television reports of the 1983–85 famine in Ethiopia.  It was first recorded in a single day on 25 November 1984 by Band Aid, a supergroup put together by Geldof and Ure and consisting mainly of the biggest British and Irish musical acts at the time.  The record became the fastest selling single in UK chart history, selling a million copies in the first week alone.  Worldwide the single had sold 11.7 million copies by 1989.  The single’s worldwide success in raising awareness and financial relief for the victims of the Ethiopian famine led to the recording of several other charity singles in the UK and in other countries, such as “We Are the World” by USA for Africa.  The song also led to various spin-off charity events, such as Comic Relief, and the Live Aid concert which would take place seven months later in July 1985.  “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” was re-recorded three time (all were also charity records):  in 1989, 2004, and 2014.  (More from Wikipedia)