Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE[1] (born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his compositions "Rat Trap" and "I Don't Like Mondays".[2][3] He co-wrote "Do They Know It's Christmas?", one of the best-selling singles of all time.[2][4][5] He starred as Pink in Pink Floyd's 1982 film Pink Floyd The Wall.
Geldof is widely recognised for his activism, especially anti-poverty efforts concerning Africa.[6] In 1984 he and Midge Ure founded the charity supergroup Band Aid to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.[4] They went on to organise the charity super-concert Live Aid the following year and the Live 8 concerts in 2005.[7] Geldof currently serves as an adviser to the ONE Campaign, founded by fellow Irish humanitarian Bono.[8] A single father, Geldof has also been outspoken for the fathers' rights movement.[9] Geldof has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, was granted an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II, and is a recipient of the Man of Peace title which recognises individuals who have made "an outstanding contribution to international social justice and peace", among numerous other awards and nominations.[10][11]
Early life
Geldof was born and raised in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland, and attended Blackrock College.[4][12] His father, Robert, (known as Rob) was the son of a Belgian[13] immigrant, Zenon (sometimes mistakenly spelt Lenon) Geldof (born 1881), a hotel chef,[13] and Amelia "Minnie" Falk, a Jewish[13] English woman (born 1873 in London). Zenon Geldof and Amelia Falk were married in 1906 in Westminster and also had two daughters, Cleo Zenobie Geldof (born 1906 in Grantham), and May Geldof (born 1909 in Dublin).[14] At the age of 41, Geldof's mother Evelyn complained of a headache and died shortly thereafter, having suffered a haemorrhage. Geldof attended Blackrock College in Dublin, whose Catholic ethos he disliked. He was bullied for his lack of rugby prowess and over his third forename, Zenon.[15][16] After work as a slaughter man, road navvy and pea canner in Wisbech, he started as a music journalist in Vancouver, Canada, for the weekly publication Georgia Straight.
Musical career
The Boomtown Rats
Upon returning to Ireland in 1975, he became the lead singer of the band The Boomtown Rats, a rock group closely linked with the punk movement.
In 1978, The Boomtown Rats had their first No. 1 single in the UK with "Rat Trap", which was the first New Wave chart-topper in Britain. In 1979, the group gained international renown with their second UK No. 1, "I Don't Like Mondays".[17] This was equally successful, as well as controversial; Geldof wrote it in the aftermath of Brenda Ann Spencer's attempted massacre at an elementary school across the street from her house in San Diego, California, at the beginning of 1979.
In 1980, The Boomtown Rats released the album Mondo Bongo. Its single "Up All Night" in 1981 was a hit in the U.S. and its video played on MTV with heavy rotation.[citation needed]
Geldof quickly became known as a colourful interview. The Boomtown Rats' first appearance on Ireland's The Late Late Show saw Geldof as deliberately brusque to host Gay Byrne and during his interview attacked Irish politicians and the Catholic Church which he blamed for many of the country's problems at the time, and responded to nuns in the audience that had tried to shout him down by saying they had "an easy life with no material worries in return for which they gave themselves body and soul to the church". He also criticised his old private school Blackrock College. The interview caused uproar across the country, making it impossible for the Boomtown Rats to play in Ireland again thereafter (apart from one gig at Leixlip Castle in 1980).[18]
After Boomtown Rats
Geldof performing as a solo artist in 1987
Geldof left the Boomtown Rats in 1986, to launch a solo career and publish his autobiography, Is That It?, which was a UK best-seller.
His first solo records sold reasonably well and spawned the hit singles "This Is The World Calling" (co-written with Dave Stewart of Eurythmics) and "The Great Song of Indifference". He also occasionally performed with other artists, such as David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and Thin Lizzy. A performance of "Comfortably Numb" with David Gilmour is documented in the 2002 DVD David Gilmour in Concert. In 1992, he performed at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert with the surviving members of Queen at the old Wembley Stadium, singing a song he had co-written with Mercury, called "Too Late God".
Geldof has also worked as a DJ for XFM radio. In 1998, he erroneously announced Ian Dury's death from cancer, possibly due to hoax information from a listener who was disgruntled at the station's change of ownership.[citation needed] The event caused music paper NME (who had been involved in a running feud with Geldof since his Boomtown Rats days primarily due to his disparagement of The Clash) to call Geldof "the world's worst DJ".[citation needed]
Along with U2's Bono, he has devoted much time since 2000 to campaigning for debt relief for developing countries. His commitments in this field, including the organisation of the Live 8 concerts, kept Geldof from producing any more musical output since 2001's Sex, Age & Death album.
After Live 8, Geldof returned to his career as a musician by releasing a box set containing all of his solo albums entitled Great Songs of Indifference - The Anthology 1986–2001 in late 2005. Following that release, Geldof also toured, albeit with mixed success.
In July 2006 Geldof arrived at Milan's Arena Civica, a venue capable of holding 12,000 people, to play a scheduled concert to find that the organisers had not put the tickets on general sale and that only 45 people had shown up.[19] Geldof refused to go on stage once he found out how small the attendance was. To offer some compensation for fans, Geldof stopped to sign autographs to those who had shown up. He then played a well-attended free "Storytellers" concert for MTV Italy in Naples in October 2006.
Controversy
At one point during his charity work, Geldof swore on CD:UK appearing to think he could get away with it, when he said 'Fuck the tape' whilst concluding his chat with Cat Deeley. At the NME awards in 2006, when accepting an award, Geldof referred to the host Russell Brand as a 'cunt'. Brand responded by saying 'It's not surprising that Geldof is such an expert on famine: he has after all been dining out on "I Don't Like Mondays" for thirty years'.[20]
In mid-July 2006, he infuriated many New Zealanders by criticising the New Zealand government's foreign aid contribution as 'shameful' and 'pathetic'.[21] Winston Peters, the Minister of Foreign Affairs responded that Geldof failed to recognise the 'quality' of New Zealand aid as well as other New Zealand contributions.[22]
During mid-November 2008, a local for-profit organisation Diversity@Work invited Geldof to Melbourne, to speak about the tragedy of Third World poverty and the failure of governments to combat the crisis. However, it was subsequently revealed that he was paid AU$100,000 for his one-off speech which included a luxury hotel room and first-class airfares. Criticism has been raised at the contradiction of demanding such fees to speak on world poverty and human misery.[23]
Charity work
Your Voice Against Poverty concert in
Rostock, Germany on 7 June 2007
Geldof's first major charity involvement took place in September 1981, when he performed as a solo artist for Amnesty International's benefit show The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, at the invitation of Amnesty show producer Martin Lewis; he performed a solo version of "I Don't Like Mondays". Other rock artists had 'planted a seed' and appeared to have affected Geldof in a similar manner.[24]
Band Aid
In 1984, Geldof responded to a BBC news report from Michael Buerk about the famine in Ethiopia by mobilising the pop world to do something about the images he had seen.[25] With Midge Ure of Ultravox he wrote "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in order to raise funds. The song was recorded by various artists under the name of Band Aid.
In its first week of release the single became the UK's fastest seller of all time, entering the chart at number one and going on to sell over three million copies, making it the biggest-selling single in UK history up to that point, a title it held for almost 13 years. The single was also a major US hit, peaking at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Do They Know It's Christmas?" returned to the UK chart a year later, reaching number three, and eventually it raised over £8 million.
Following this massive success preparations were started for the biggest rock concerts the world had ever seen, the following summer.
Live Aid
As Geldof began to learn more about the situation, he discovered that one of the main reasons why African nations were in such dire peril was because of repayments on loans that their countries had taken from Western banks. For every pound donated in aid, ten times as much would have to leave the country in loan repayments. It became obvious that one song was not enough.
On 13 July 1985, Geldof and Ure organised Live Aid, a huge event staged simultaneously at the Wembley Stadium in London and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia. Thanks to an unprecedented decision by the BBC to clear its schedules for 16 hours of rock music, the event was also broadcast live in the UK on television and radio.
It was one of the most monumental stage shows in history, with Phil Collins flying on Concorde so that he could play at both Wembley and Philadelphia on the same day.
During the broadcast of Live Aid, Geldof shocked viewers into giving cash by not only twice mouthing profanities but also by slamming his fist on the table and ordering them not to go out to the pub but to stay in and watch the show.
Nearly seven hours into the concert in London, Geldof gave an infamous interview in which he used the word 'fuck'. The BBC presenter David Hepworth, conducting the interview, had attempted to provide a list of addresses to which potential donations should be sent; Geldof interrupted him in mid-flow and shouted: "Fuck the address, let's get the [phone] numbers!" It has passed into folklore [26] that he yelled at the audience, "Give us your fucking money!" although Geldof has stated that this phrase was never uttered.[27] After the outburst, giving increased to £300 per second.
The harrowing video of dying, skeletal children that had been made by photo-journalists setting their films to the tune of "Drive" by The Cars, contributed to the concert's success.
In total, Live Aid raised over £150 million for famine relief. Geldof was subsequently knighted, at age 34, for his efforts. His autobiography, written soon after with Paul Vallely, was entitled Is That It?.[28] This book achieved further fame for being featured on the GCSE examination syllabus in a following year.
Much of the money raised by Live Aid went to NGOs in Ethiopia, some of which were under the influence or control of the Derg military junta. Some journalists have suggested that the Derg was able to use Live Aid and Oxfam money to fund its enforced resettlement and "villagification" programmes, under which at least 3 million people are said to have been displaced and between 50,000 and 100,000 killed.[29] However in November 2010 the BBC formally apologized to Geldof for misleading implications in its stories on the subject of Band Aid, saying it had 'no evidence' that Band Aid money specifically went to buy weapons.[30]
Commission for Africa
In January 2004, on a visit to friends in Ethiopia, Geldof came to believe that more people were at risk of starvation there than had died in the famine of 1984/85 which had prompted Live Aid. He rang the British Prime Minister Tony Blair from Addis Ababa. According to the Live 8 programme notes by Geldof's biographer and friend, Paul Vallely, the Prime Minister responded: "Calm down Bob. . . And come and see me as soon as you get back.[31] "
The result was the Commission for Africa. Blair invited Geldof and 16 other Commissioners, the majority from Africa and many of them politicians in power, to undertake a year-long study of Africa's problems. They came up with two conclusions: that Africa needed to change, to improve its governance and combat corruption, and that the rich world needed to support that change in new ways. That meant doubling aid, delivering debt cancellation, and reforming trade rules. The Commission drew up a detailed plan of how that could be done. It reported in March 2005. In the months that followed it became clear that world leaders were not taking its recommendations seriously. To force the issue Geldof decided to create a new international lobby for Africa with eight simultaneous concerts around the world to put pressure on the G8. He called it Live 8. The Commission's recommendations later became the blueprint for the G8 Gleneagles African debt and aid package.
Africa Progress Panel
Geldof is a member of the Africa Progress Panel (APP), an independent authority on Africa deriving its origin from a key recommendation of the Commission for Africa. The Panel launched in April 2007 with the aim of focusing world leaders’ attention on delivering their commitments to the continent. The Panel launched a major report in London on Monday 16 June 2008 entitled Africa's Development: Promises and Prospects.[32]
DATA and the ONE Campaign
Bob Geldof worked closely with DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), an organisation founded by U2's Bono in 2002 to promote debt-relief, third world trade and AIDS relief in Africa. It merged with the ONE Campaign in 2008, where Geldof also is very active. In June 2009, on behalf of the ONE Campaign, he co-edited a special edition of the Italian newspaper La Stampa with a view on 35th G8 summit.[33]
One Young World
Geldof has signed up to be one of the Counsellors at One Young World a non-profit organisation which hopes to bring together 1500 young global leaders of tomorrow from every country in the world.
Live 8 concerts
Geldof at a
Live 8: DVD signing
On 31 March 2005, Geldof and Ure announced the Live 8 project, to raise awareness of issues that burden Africa, including government debt, trade barriers, hunger, and AIDS issues. Geldof organised six concerts on 2 July 2005 in large cities throughout the industrialised world. They featured musicians from different genres and locations around the world. The cities where Live 8 concerts were played were in industrialised countries, and drew huge crowds. The locations were London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Philadelphia, Barrie, Chiba, Johannesburg, Moscow, Cornwall and Edinburgh.
The concerts were free, and were scheduled just days before world leaders gathered in Gleneagles, for the G8 economic summit, on 6 July. Ure organised the 'final push' Live 8 concert at Edinburgh. 'The boys and girls with guitars will finally get to turn the world on its axis,' Geldof said in a statement.[34] Pink Floyd's performance in London was its first since 1981 to include original bassist, Roger Waters.
Criticism of his charity work
Criticism of Band Aid/Live Aid
In 1985 singer Morrissey was heavily critical of the song Do They Know It's Christmas?:
'I'm not afraid to say that I think Band Aid was diabolical. Or to say that I think Bob Geldof is a nauseating character. Many people find that very unsettling, but I'll say it as loud as anyone wants me to. In the first instance the record itself was absolutely tuneless. One can have great concern for the people of Ethiopia, but it's another thing to inflict daily torture on the people of England. It was an awful record considering the mass of talent involved. And it wasn't done shyly it was the most self-righteous platform ever in the history of popular music.'[35]
In 1986, the anarchist band Chumbawamba released the album Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records, as well as an EP entitled "We Are the World", jointly recorded with US band A State of Mind, both of which were intended as anti-capitalist critiques of the Band Aid/Live Aid phenomenon. They argued that "Do They Know It's Christmas?" was primarily a cosmetic spectacle, designed to draw attention away from the real political causes of world hunger.
A cartoon in Private Eye showed two emaciated Ethiopians, with one of them saying "We're having a famine, in aid of fading rock stars."
Criticism of Live 8
Although part of the campaign "Make Poverty History" (MPH), Live 8 was then accused of hijacking MPH by planning its concerts on the same day as the giant MPH march in Edinburgh, which was said to be the biggest social justice march in Scottish history.[36]
Geldof was also criticised for the lack of African acts performing at Live 8.[37] Geldof responded that only the biggest-selling artists would attract the huge audience required to capture the attention of the world in the run-up to the G8 meeting. Geldof added that there was insufficient public interest in African music among the concert's target markets in Europe and the United States. Including African artists at the expense of recognised artists would have been tokenist, he said, and would have undermined the effect of the concert.[38]
In the lead-up to the G8 summit, Geldof, who had been a member of Tony Blair's Commission for Africa on which the Gleneagles recommendations were largely based, labelled critics of the summit 'a disgrace'. Some leading African campaigners have asked Geldof to stand down from the global anti-poverty movement, and the New Internationalist (between January and February 2006) said 'It would be long overdue if he did.'[39]
There were also accusations that Live 8 gave unqualified support to the personal and political agendas of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, particularly in the lead up to an election. Though many felt that it was the British politicians who had accepted Geldof's agenda, rather than the other way round, this led to accusations that Geldof had compromised his cause.[40] In contrast with the media support given to Live Aid, Live 8 was subject to criticism by some sections of the media.[citation needed]
The promises made for Africa at the Gleneagles summit, were widely praised: "the greatest summit for Africa ever" (Kofi Annan), "an important, if incomplete, boost to the development prospects of the poorest countries" economist (Jeffrey Sachs) or "a major breakthrough on debt" (Kevin Wakins, until recently head of research at Oxfam). But many aid agencies pronounced their disappointment with the outcome, feeling that the strict conditions imposed on African countries for accepting debt relief left them little better off than before. Some critics have claimed that Live 8 had been more about rehabilitating the careers of ageing rock stars, including Geldof himself, than it was about the poor people of Africa. Geldof himself has made no attempt to revive his music career, although, as the New Internationalist points out, since becoming prominent in the salvation of Africa, "Geldof has re-released the entire back catalogue of the Boomtown Rats."[41]
Oasis's Noel Gallagher became one of the more vocal sceptics about the impact of Live 8, citing his belief that rock stars have less influence over world leaders than popular culture may believe. His explanation was:
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but are they hoping that one of these guys from the G8 is on a quick 15-minute break at Gleneagles and sees Annie Lennox singing "Sweet Dreams" and thinks, 'Fuck me, she might have a point there, you know?' And Keane doing "Somewhere Only We Know" and some Japanese businessman going, 'Aw, look at him… we should really fucking drop that debt, you know.' It's not going to happen, is it?"[42]
Other humanitarian initiatives
In 2009 joined the project "Soldiers of Peace", a movie against all wars and for a global peace.[43][44]
Businessman
By 1992 Bob Geldof had established himself as a businessman through co-ownership of the TV production company Planet 24, which pioneered early morning television with The Big Breakfast. Planet 24 was sold to Carlton TV in 1999. TV production company Ten Alps was founded the next day by Geldof and business partner Alex Connock. In April 2011 a new entertainment formats company, Pretend, was launched.[45]
As of 2009, he has been patron of the Exeter Entrepreneurs Society, at the University of Exeter.[46]
Political views
Bob Geldof adopted an anti-euro stance by appearing in an advertisement against the single currency,[47] in 2002. Geldof also criticised the European Union (EU) in 2004 for what he called its 'pathetic' response to Ethiopia's food crisis,[48] although one MEP has claimed he is "misinformed".[49]
During a visit to Ethiopia, Geldof also praised President George W. Bush's proposal to fight AIDS in Africa.[50] This proposal has received criticism from some aid groups due to its heavy emphasis on Christian morality and sexual abstinence.[51]
Geldof has recently spoken out about environmental issues, taking some positions that may be considered unusual compared to many other prominent artists and performers, such as advocating for the increased use of nuclear power, saying that, "In the UK, we'll soon have to scramble for more nuclear power. On this issue, I don't care what anyone says: we're going to go with it, big-time. We may mess around with wind and waves and other renewable energy sources, trying to make them sustainable, but they're not. They're Mickey Mouse."[52]
Geldof has also called for the industrial development of developing nations such as China and India to be taken into account when negotiating greenhouse gas emissions targets, and has suggested that the developed world has a role to play in assisting these nations to roll out non-fossil energy systems.[53]
Some on the political left have charged Geldof with hypocrisy[why?], due to his lack of support for causes such as the UK miners' strike (1984-1985) and the anti-war movement. In 2006, Geldof told a business conference that "Back in the 1970s there was no chance for a boy with an idea. Everything was stitched up by the unions."[54]
From January 2002, until sometime in 2005, Geldof listened very closely to Father's Rights campaigners, and it was reported that he had sacks of mail arriving at his door on a daily basis from fathers who were denied justice from the British family courts. He was noted as saying, "I am heartbroken. I just cannot believe what happens to people, what is done to them in the name of the law.[55] You only have to open your eyes to see what I call the 'Sad Dads on Sundays Syndrome'". He has also called for The Children Act to be repealed and his latest statement to Father's Rights campaigners was, "It's not in my nature to shut up".[56]
In December 2005, Geldof agreed to give advice on global poverty to the Conservative Party.[57] He stated, however, that he was uninterested in party politics, and would continue to 'shake hands with the devil on my left and the devil on my right,' in order to achieve results.
In April 2008 Geldof hit the news again when a survey showed that nearly a quarter of British people confused passages from the Bible with speeches made by the famous activist.[58]
Awards and honours
Geldof has received many awards for his fund-raising work, including an honorary knighthood (as Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire) from Queen Elizabeth II, in 1986.[59] Geldof is entitled to use the post-nominal letters "KBE" but, as he is not a citizen of a Commonwealth realm, he is precluded from using the title "Sir".[60] Regardless, the nickname "Sir Bob" has stuck and media reports continue to refer to him erroneously as "Sir Bob Geldof".[61]
In 1986 Geldof was made a Freeman of the Borough of Swale, in north Kent, England. Geldof had for some years been resident in the borough, at Davington Priory, Faversham, and is still living there as of 2009. He received his award during a special meeting of the Swale Borough Council from the mayor, Councillor Richard Moreton, and the mayoress, Rose Moreton.
In 2005 Geldof was awarded the Honorary Patronage of the Trinity College Dublin University Philosophical Society and was a winner of the North-South Prize.
In a list compiled by the magazine New Statesman, in 2006, Geldof was voted third in the list of "Heroes of our time".[62]
Other awards:
1985: received an honorary Master of Arts degree from the University of Kent.[63]
2005: Free Your Mind Award[64] at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
2005: received a Man of Peace Award.
2005: received a Beacon Fellowship Prize for his leadership role in alleviating poverty, famine and genocide, especially in the Third World, and his advocacy for the rights of fathers.[65]
2006: awarded the Freedom of Dublin City.
2006: recipient of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Moral Courage Award by Holocaust Museum Houston.
2006 and 2008: nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.[66][67]
2007: made an Honorary Fellow at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. In the same year Richard Curtis presented Geldof with the "Cinema for Peace Pioneer Award" honouring him for his achievements.
2007: awarded an honorary degree in Civil Law from Newcastle University.[68] The University held a special honorary degree ceremony to honour key figures in the campaign against world poverty.
2008: received the Nichols-Chancellor's Medal from Vanderbilt University for his humanitarian efforts, as well as an honorary degree in music from the University of East London, serving on both occasions as the keynote speaker for the 2008 graduating class.[69]
2009: received a Lifetime Achievement Award from ROTA.
2011: received an honorary doctorate of philosophy from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, for his "decades of charity work for humanitarian causes".[70]
Personal life
Geldof's longtime girlfriend and later wife was Paula Yates. Yates was a rock journalist, presenter of the cutting-edge music show The Tube, and later notorious for her in-bed interviews on the show The Big Breakfast. Geldof met Yates when she became an obsessed fan of the Boomtown Rats during the band's early days. They got together as a couple in 1976 when Yates travelled by aeroplane to Paris to surprise him when the band was playing there.
Before they married, the couple had a daughter, Fifi Trixibelle Geldof, born 31 March 1983 (and while Geldof was still conducting an affair with the young Claire King). She was named Fifi after Bob's aunt Fifi, and Trixibelle because Paula wanted a belle in the family.[4] After 10 years together, Bob and Paula married in June 1986 in Las Vegas, with Simon Le Bon (of Duran Duran) acting as Geldof's best man. The couple later had two more daughters, Peaches Honeyblossom Geldof[71] (known as Peaches Geldof) on 13 March 1989,[72] and Little Pixie Geldof (known as Pixie Geldof) on 17 September 1990.[73] Pixie is said to be named after a celebrity daughter character from the cartoon Celeb in the satirical magazine Private Eye, itself a lampoon of the names the Geldofs gave to their other children. Geldof has stated that his children find his music 'crap' and him an 'embarrassment'.[74]
In 1995, Yates left Geldof for Michael Hutchence, the lead singer of INXS, whom she had met several years previously when she interviewed him on The Tube (TV series), and again in 1994 when she interviewed Hutchence again for The Big Breakfast. Geldof and Yates divorced in May 1996 and Yates moved in with Hutchence. Yates and Hutchence had a daughter, Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily, born 22 July 1996.[citation needed] Hutchence later was found hanged in a hotel room on 22 November 1997. Geldof soon after went to court and obtained full custody of his own three daughters and has since become an outspoken advocate of fathers' rights. After Paula Yates's death from a drug and alcohol overdose in 2000, and with the approval of Hutchence's parents, Geldof became the legal guardian of Tiger Lily, believing it best that she be raised with her three half-sisters. In 2007, Geldof formally adopted her, changing her name to Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily Hutchence Geldof although she simply goes by the name of Tiger Hutchence-Geldof.
Geldof currently resides in Battersea, South London with his partner, French actress Jeanne Marine, and Tiger.
His father died on 26 August 2010 at the age of 96.[75]
Wealth
Geldof's wealth was estimated by Broadcast magazine in 2001 to be £30 million,[76] a position of 18th in a list of UK broadcasters. He co-founded production company Ten Alps with Alex Connock. Output includes education TV site Schoolsworld, which hosts 3500 videos from the former government Teachers TV project.
In 2007, his two UK properties were owned by companies based in the British Virgin Islands.[77][78]
See also
Discography
For more information on Bob Geldof's solo recordings see Bob Geldof discography For Bob Geldof's recordings with The Boomtown Rats see The Boomtown Rats discography
Solo albums
Compilation albums
| Year |
Title |
Peak chart positions |
UK
[79] |
| 1994 |
Loudmouth – The Best of Bob Geldof & The Boomtown Rats
- includes solo recordings and The Boomtown Rats songs
- Released: July 1994
- Label: Vertigo
|
10 |
| 2005 |
Great Songs of Indifference: The Anthology 1986-2001
- Box Set including the first 4 solo albums
- Released: 2005
- Label: Mercury
|
— |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. |
Singles
| Year |
Title |
Chart positions |
Album |
UK
[79] |
AUS
[80] |
GER
[89] |
IRE
[90] |
NL
[84] |
NOR
[85] |
SWE
[86] |
SWI
[91] |
US
[92] |
| 1986 |
"This Is the World Calling" |
25 |
— |
28 |
2 |
29 |
1 |
10 |
18 |
82
[A] |
Deep in the Heart of Nowhere |
| 1987 |
"Love Like a Rocket" |
61 |
— |
— |
21 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| "Heartless Heart" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| "I Cry Too" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| "In the Pouring Rain" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 1990 |
"The Great Song of Indifference" |
15 |
— |
20 |
7 |
16 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Vegetarians of Love |
| "Love or Something" |
86 |
— |
55 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
—
[B] |
| "A Gospel Song" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 1992 |
"Room 19 (Sha La La La Lee)" |
— |
— |
53 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Happy Club |
| "My Hippy Angel" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 1993 |
"The Happy Club" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| "Yeah, Definitely" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 1994 |
"Crazy" |
65 |
— |
72 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Loudmouth – The Best of Bob Geldof & The Boomtown Rats |
| 1996 |
"Rat Trap"
(Dustin & Geldof) |
— |
— |
— |
1 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
| 2002 |
"Pale White Girls" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Sex Age & Death |
| 2011 |
"Silly Pretty Thing" |
146 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
How To Compose Popular Songs That Will Sell |
| "Here's To You" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
- Notes
Film appearances
- Pink Floyd The Wall (1982) - Pink
- Number One (1985) - Harry 'Flash' Gordon
- Spiceworld (1997) - as himself (cameo)
- Being Mick (2001) - as himself.
- 'I am Bob' (short film 2007) - in which he loses a look-a-like contest (even after singing the Boomtown Rats' hit "I Don't Like Mondays".)
- Oh My God (film) (2009) - as himself
Quotation
| “ |
I want to write a song people will remember, that people will some day hear and be reminded of something they did years ago. Maybe "I Don't Like Mondays", will be the one, but, it's just another minor thing really, once you've achieved the ambition. |
” |
NME - March 1982[93]
References
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- ^ Live 8 programme notes by Paul Vallely
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- ^ Garfield, Simon (7-13 Mar.), "This Charming Man: No SEX No DRUGS No ROCK 'N' ROLL and Definitely No ROYALTY!", Time Out, http://foreverill.com/interviews/1985/charming.htm
- ^ Hilary, John (5 April 2010). "The arrogance of Saint Bob". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/05/geldof-arrogance-poverty-agenda-starsuckers. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
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- ^ Monbiot, George (21 June 2005). "Bards of the powerful". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5220235-103677,00.html. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
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- ^ peopleandplanet.net > reproductive health > newsfile > geldof praises us aids plan[dead link]
- ^ Boseley, Sarah (30 March 2005). "US-funded scheme 'a threat to Uganda Aids programme'". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1447713,00.html. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
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- ^ [2][dead link]
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- ^ Sky News
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- ^ Elizabeth Wyse, Jo Aitchison, Zöe Gullen, Eleanor Mathieson, ed. (2006). "Forms of Address". Debrett's Correct Form (2006 ed.). Richmond, Surrey: Debrett's Limited. pp. 98, 100. ISBN 978-1-870520-88-1. "When a foreign national receives an honorary knighthood of an order of chivalry, he is not entitled to the prefix Sir, but he may place the appropriate letters after his name. ... An honorary knight of an order of chivalry uses the appropriate letters after his name, but without the prefix Sir because he is not eligible to receive the accolade."
- ^ E.g. Simon Mills (19 September 2011). "Sir Bob Geldof at 60". Evening Standard. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/starinterviews/article-23988530-sir-bob-geldof-at-60.do. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
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- ^ Peaches Geldof IMDb listing
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- ^ a b c Bob Geldof in UK Charts
- ^ a b "dutchcharts.nl - Discografie Bob Geldof". Hung Medien. http://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Bob+Geldof. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
- ^ "dutchcharts.nl - Discografie Bob Geldof". Hung Medien. http://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Bob+Geldof. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
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- ^ a b "dutchcharts.nl - Discografie Bob Geldof". Hung Medien. http://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Bob+Geldof. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
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- ^ a b "dutchcharts.nl - Discografie Bob Geldof". Hung Medien. http://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Bob+Geldof. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
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- ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 364. CN 5585.
External links
| Persondata |
| Name |
Geldof, Bob |
| Alternative names |
|
| Short description |
|
| Date of birth |
5 October 1951 |
| Place of birth |
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| Date of death |
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| Place of death |
|
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