Lineup announced for new Band Aid single

One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Adele, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and Bono are among the UK acts taking part in Sir Bob Geldof’s Band Aid single to help fund the fight to stop the spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa.

While the fourth ever Band Aid charity record will again be the Geldof and Midge Ure (Ultravox)-penned #1 single Do They Know It’s Christmas?, the pair have rephrased the lyrics slightly to remove any references to famine.

The track will also feature Underworld, Emeli Sande, Olly Murs, Bastille, Foals, Paloma Faith, Queen drummer Roger Taylor, Sinead O’Connor and Ellie Goulding with more expected to be announced in the coming days. Rita Ora was locked in to sing on the track but was forced to pull out due to commitments with The Voice UK.

Marking the 30th anniversary of the original global #1, Geldof said Band Aid’s revival was sparked from a call he received from the UN.

“Africa is on the verge of radical change. It’s a tragedy that modernity has released this beast into the world,” Geldof said at a press conference today. “It renders humans untouchable and that’s sickening. Mothers can’t cradle their young, lovers can’t comfort each other.”

Band Aid 30 will record the track with producer Paul Epworth (Adele, Florence & The Machine, One Direction) this weekend at Sarm Studios in west London, just as on the original recording. It will be made available for download on Monday, November 17. According to Independent, the physical version won’t be available for three weeks due to the lack of CD printing plants in Europe. Spotify have been given the green light to make the track available, but not until January 1.

Reports suggest German and French Band Aid versions will be released in the coming weeks and Quincy Jones is working on a US For Africa recording.

Geldof has ruled out the possibility of another Live Aid concert saying there is no “political logic” to do one.

The original version was written in 1984 to fund efforts fighting the famine in Ethiopia (’83-’85); it sold 3.75 million copies to date. Two updated versions were released in 1989 and 2004, with Bono singing the tenth line in each.