New Band Aid single raises £1 million for Ebola within five minutes

LONDON — Band Aid 30, the 2014 update of the Band Aid campaign that raised money for Ethiopia in 1984, has raised over £1 million ($1.5 million) for Ebola within five minutes of being launched.



The updated version of Do They Know It’s Christmas?, which features One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding and Sam Smith among others, was recorded in London on Saturday and the video premiered on Sunday’s X Factor.



“It’s gone manic. That’s the digital age,” organiser Bob Geldof told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today show.

See also: 'Ebola is spreading before our eyes': A week in Devil Hole, Sierra Leone

Geldof and fellow mastermind behind the track Midge Ure have been acutely aware of the digital age – and Twitter’s capacity for instant feedback - with their new version of the song, and it’s a somewhat more considered and sombre affair than before. Bono’s questionable line (“Well tonight thank god it's them instead of you”) has been replaced and the track is bereft of the rap, flying guitar solos, and applause of the 2004 version.



The lyrics have been updated to reflect current world events, with one line reading: “Where a kiss of love can kill you - And there's death at every tear,” which, according to Geldof, was inspired by a nurse who died in Africa after wiping away the tear of a child dying of Ebola. Read more...

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