Bob Geldof is out recruiting for a 30th anniversary version of the classic Band Aid charity track "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and Music Times offered a "most likely" list earlier this week. Turns out our number one pick was exactly correct: One Direction was confirmed by The Sun today as the first act that's been officially tied down for the recording.
"Sir Bob has gone all out to get the biggest names in pop for the fourth release of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'" a source told the newspaper. "Harry, Louis, Zayn, Liam and Niall were among the first stars on the organizers' list and they jumped at the chance to get involved."
According to the same source, Adele and Florence Welch (of Florence + The Machine)—both high picks for Music Times' list—are also high on Geldof's list of choices for the holiday classic. Of course, we mostly just chose the most popular British acts around at the moment so we can't claim our picks were that impressive. Other acts rumored to be favorites of Geldof include Ben Howard and alternative rockers Alt-J.
The original version of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" was released during 1984—featuring vocals from stars such as Bono, Sting and George Michael—with proceeds going to aid those suffering from famine in Ethiopia. Another version was released during 1989 and a 20th anniversary version was dropped during 2004. The new single will be more than an exercise in sentimentality of course. Proceeds will go to help combat the spread of Ebola in Africa.
Keep and eye on Music Times to see who else will end up appearing, and keep an eye on iTunes for the chance to help the cause.
