Number 1 today in 2004: Band Aid 20

It's probably the most iconic charity record of all time and, this week in 2004, it was at Number 1 for a third time, 20 years after first taking the British charts by storm.

When the original Band Aid lineup recorded Do They Know It's Christmas? few imagined two decades later another clutch of famous faces – not to mention voices – would be getting together to record a cover version.

This time, the celebs were offering their services in aid of the Darfur region of Sudan, and a wealth of stars turned up to lay down their vocals. There really were too many to mention, but the lineup included Bono, Robbie Williams, Jamelia, Busted, Will Young, Sugababes and Chris Martin.

11 years ago this week, the new version went straight in at Number 1, and to mark the occasion, we look back at the stats and facts around this classic tune.

Some girls always get what they wanna wanna. And Rachel wanted to be on Band Aid 20, and she was! (REX)

3

Do They Know It's Christmas? has been Official Christmas Number 1 three times. First was the original in 1984, then five years later, the Kylie-led Band Aid II managed the feat. 2014's version did hit Number 1, but didn't hold on until Christmas.

1.18 million

Do They Know It's Christmas? 2004 has sold 1,104,536 physical copies. It's chart sales tally stands at an impressive 1.18 million. 

 

Busted took a break from crashing weddings to lay down some 'vox' for the iconic charity single. (REX)

297,210

Do They Know It's Christmas? sold a whopping 297,210 copies in its first week of release. For a straight month it sold well over 200,000 copies each week.

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In its fourth week on sale, the track passed the million mark. It was also its final week at Number 1. The following week, sales nosedived to just over 20,000. Why? Well, it's a bit like having a Christmas tree up after the 6th January, really. You just don't, do you?

 

Appear on an amazing charity single and get to duet with Will Young? It's a thumbs up from Jamelia. (REX)

7

Do They Know It's Christmas? spent seven weeks in the Top 40.

78,350

The charity behemoth has been downloaded over 78,350 times since we started counting in 2005. The original 1984 version's sold 253,000 downloads!

Will's phone, though. So 2004. (REX)

 

Here's what the Top 10 looked like this week in 2004. Click on the image to see the full Top 100.

 

This time last year…

It had taken him 19 weeks to get there, so you can forgive Ed for wanting another stint at Number 1 – Thinking Out Loud bounced back to the top after a four-week absence. It's still in the Top 100 btw.