Bob Geldof & Midge Ure call LBC to resolve Mystery Hour question

20 December 2019, 12:47 | Updated: 20 December 2019, 13:12

Bob Geldof and Midge Ure called James O’Brien to confirm that 100% of the proceeds from Band Aid's ‘Do They Know It's Christmas’ go to charity.

They also confirmed the record has raised in excess of £200 million.

Both men wrote the song.

Midge Ure said: "In 35 years, we have never received a penny from Band Aid or Live Aid."

He added: "100% of the royalties goes directly to the Band Aid Trust."

Bob Geldof said: "It constantly generates money for what, James? For the poorest people in the world

100 per cent will go to those people."

He added: "I reiterate that, Midge is here to confirm, I don't take a penny."

Making a plea to those reproducing misinformation on Twitter, Geldof said: "You got it wrong, now please repudiate it now."

James O'Brien said: "In my defence, what blew up on social media was quite different to what happened on the programme."

The sum raised for charity, said Geldof, has been around £200m.

James O'Brien apologised and thanked them for their explanation.

In a statement, Bob Geldof said: "100% of all publishing revenues from the sale of the song over the past 35 years (and continuing) and amounting to tens of millions of pounds go and have gone directly to the Band Aid Trust for distribution to projects that aim to help the poor in several countries in Africa.

To be perfectly clear neither Midge nor Bob have ever received a single penny in royalty revenues from the song or any activity whatsoever regarding Band Aid  including the Live Aid and Live8 concerts or the 4 separate versions of “Do They Know Its Christmas”.

At the end of the chat, James gave them a reward.

The reward was, of course, a Ray Liotta compilation.