Band Aid 40: Bob Geldof's ambitions for Do They Know It's Christmas? anniversary release

Bob Geldof has hinted a 40th anniversary release of Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? could be on the way.

2024 marks 40 years since The Boomtown Rats' frontman Bob Geldof and Ultravox's Midge Ure first enlisted a star-studded supergroup for the charity song; which went on to become 1984's Official Christmas Number 1 single and raise millions for the famine relief effort in Ethiopia.

Do They Know It's Christmas? was re-recorded with a new line-up in 1989 under Band Aid II, with the single celebrated every decade since its original release under Band Aid 20 (2004) and Band Aid 30 (2014).

Now, Bob Goldof has revealed his ambitions for a 'Band Aid 40' supercut of the track; said to include a compilation of artists' vocals recorded for each of its previous releases.

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Speaking to The Canadian Press, Bob hinted a Band Aid 40 release could "maybe put Harry Styles beside a young Bono," suggesting that "just sonically, you mess up these generations all in one take."

According to The Canadian Press, Geldof has approached BRIT Award-winning producer Trevor Horn to mastermind a new version of the single.

On reaching out to Horn, Geldof explained: "I said, 'Could you make one single? The longest single ever, maybe?'".

Addressing the likelihood of a cross-generational supergroup proving a viable ambition, Geldof reasoned: "If it works, it works. If it doesn't, it doesn't. But it's fascinating unto itself, from our perspective."

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The original 1984 release of Do They Know It's Christmas?, which spent five consecutive weeks atop the Official Singles Chart, is officially the UK's second best-selling single of all time based on physical single and download sales. It places second only to Elton John's 1997 double A-side Something About The Way You Look Tonight/Candle In The Wind 1997, at Number 1 on the list.

All four versions of Do They Know It's Christmas? released to date have reached Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart; with the original, Band Aid II and Band Aid 20 recordings each claiming the coveted Christmas Number 1 in their respective years of release.

We know we've only just switched to British Summer Time, but if Bob Geldof's ambitions come to full fruition, then we'll have an instant early contender for 2024's Christmas Number 1 on our hands. Watch this space...

Images: Getty/Karwai Tang/Lorne Thomson.