He was the leader of the group the Boomtown Rats 1975-86. In the mid-1980s he instigated the charity Band Aid, which raised about ú60 million for famine relief, primarily for Ethiopia. In partnership with musician Midge Ure (1953-...), Geldof gathered together many pop celebrities of the day to record Geldof's song Do They Know It's Christmas? 1984, donating all proceeds to charity (it sold 7 million copies). He followed it up with two simultaneous celebrity concerts 1985 under the name Live Aid, one in London and one in Philadelphia, which were broadcast live worldwide.
