Glee’s charity track
Television series Glee will donate 100 percent of the net monies from the sales of their version of Band Aid’s 1984 hit Do They Know It’s Christmas? to The Band Aid Trust.
The Trust, a registered British charity since 1985, has raised in excess of $190 million to support projects designed to make a lasting difference in Ethiopia, Somalia and surrounding countries in East Africa.
In 2005 The Band Aid Trust put on 11 concerts around the world to demonstrate to world leaders that they had a global public mandate to reduce debt, facilitate trade, and increase aid for Africa. This resulted in an unprecedented commitment from the G8 leaders to these aims.
In 2011, Band Aid contributed $5.5m to support emergency projects in Ethiopia and Somalia in response to the current food crisis in East Africa.
“The reverberations of this little song continue down the long 26 years since Midge Ure and I wrote it,” Bob Geldof said when asked about the Glee cover.
“It could not be more timely now that Glee with its vast global audience of young people re-introduce it to a whole new constituency who are probably unaware of the great tragedy unfolding amongst the hungry, poor and dying of Somalia as a result of drought and a bitter and pointless civil war.”
Glee’s version of Do They Know It’s Christmas? appears on Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Volume 2 and can be seen on a special Glee Christmas episode which will air next year on Network Ten.
