Bob Geldof -

Bob Geldof — aka Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (born Oct. 5, 1951) — is an Irish singer, songwriter, bandleader, and philanthropist from Dún Laoghaire, Dublin, who rose to prominence as the frontman of New Wave rockers The Boomtown Rats, which released six albums between 1977 and 1984. As an actor, he starred as Pink in the 1982 big-screen adaptation of Pink Floyd‘s 1979 concept album The Wall.

Just as the Rats were wrapping up their initial run, Geldof collaborated with Ultravox-frontman Midge Ure on the charitable composition “Do They Know It’s Christmas?,” recorded with an all-star cast of U.K. musical talent, collectively dubbed Band Aid. The single became a worldwide chart-topper during the 1984/85 holiday season and raised global awareness to the Ethiopian famine.

The song’s success prompted Geldof to assemble what would ultimately become the world’s largest ever all-star charitable event, Live Aid: a two-day sequence of live performances telecast from Wembley Stadium and JFK to more than 1.9 billion viewers across 150 different nations. The event would ultimately raise over £150 million for famine relief and earn Geldof an honorary knighthood at age 34.

As a solo musical artist, Geldof released the album Deep in the Heart of Nowhere on Mercury in 1986, followed by The Vegetarians of Love on Phonogram in 1990. Four further albums appeared during the subsequent two decades amid ongoing philanthropic work.

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