Band Aid 30 Song To Premiere During The X Factor

The updated version of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'

Published 13th Nov 2014

The new Band Aid song will get its world premiere during The X Factor results show in Sunday night (16th November).

Once again the brainchild of Midge Ure and Sir Bob Geldof, the updated version of ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ will be recorded in London on Saturday with big name stars including One Direction, Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran taking part.

Also lending their vocals or contributing music are Bastille, U2’s Bono, Emeli Sande, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Jessie Ware, Sinead O’Connor, Ellie Goulding, Paloma Faith and Elbow.

Money raised from the track will be used in the fight against Ebola that is blighting parts of West Africa.

! Tracy Emin’s Band Aid 30 artwork

In order for the video to be shown during The X Factor, which airs at 8pm on Sunday, the footage of the artists performing will be edited in 24 hours.

The epic recording session at London’s Sarm Studios will also be live streamed on Saturday.

'Do They Know It's Christmas?' will be released as a digital download on for 99p on Monday morning (17th November) at 8am. A physical CD version will follow three weeks later.

It will not be available to listen to on streaming sites such as Spotify.

A hard-hitting trailer for the Band Aid 30 song has also been unveiled featuring harrowing footage of people hit by Ebola.

Speaking at the Band Aid 30 launch on Monday, Bob Geldof confirmed that some of the song’s lyrics will be changed to focus on the “filthy little virus.”

The lyrics "burning sun" and land where "no rain nor rivers flow" have been axed.

"That part of Africa is lush," Geldof said. "They have hydro-electric plants. It is massively fertile, the best rice-growing soil in the world."

A response to the devastating famine in Ethopia, the first Band Aid single in 1984 sold 3.7million copies and raised £8million for famine relief.

George Michael, Boy George, Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran and Bananarama were among the plethora of artists on the original, while Jason Donovan, Kylie, Cliff Richard, Bros and Wet Wet Wet appeared on the 1989 version.

A 20th anniversary version in 2004 featured Dido, Dizzee Rasacal, Snow Patrol, The Darkness, Coldplay, Radiohead, Katie Melua, Joss Stone, Robbie Williams and Will Young.