Irish punk rock musician, lead vocalist and songwriter of “Boomtown Rats” and activist. In the mid-1980s he went into a fund-raising frenzy for African famine victims. With a single musical production that he co-wrote and turned into an international hit, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” he raised millions in Africa-bound royalties. His efforts have prompted pop stars in more than 20 countries to cut songs for the cause, and he has put on benefit concerts that have raised an astounding amount of money.
Geldof and his music mates formed “Boomtown Rats” in the mid 1970s, with their first hit single “Rat Trap” issued in 1978. Controversial and outspoken, Geldof was a favorite of the punk rockers and he and the Rats issued six albums in between several hit singles. In 1984, having seen a TV special on famine in Africa, Geldof and Midge Ure wrote the now-famous song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” He brought together popular musicians, labeled the group “Band Aid,” and released their recording of the song for the 1984 holiday season. His goal or raising 70,000 pounds was far exceeded; the single raised millions for famine victims. When Stevie Wonder and friends put on the “We Are the World” concert in January 1985, Geldof performed. Having tasted what organization and fund-raising could do, Geldof, Band Aid, and the Rats organized a huge concert in London, Live Aid, in June 1985. The concert raised over $200 million, an unprecedented amount of money, and Geldof vowed “never again” believing that the event was a one-of-a-kind. His hit “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” was re-released in December 2004 with a new group of popular musicians. At the end of March 2005, Geldof announced another series of mega-concerts, this time called Live 8. The
first of the series is scheduled to begin in London on July 2, 2005, just days before the G8 economic summit begins in Scotland, attended by the world’s most powerful leaders. Live 8 will consist of at least nine star-studded concerts in major cities all over the world. Tickets are free and media coverage will be extensive. This time around, Geldof wants to focus global attention to the crises in Africa, to the devastation that poverty has wreaked on the people of the continent. Having been active in DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade and Africa), an organization founded by fellow musician Bono of the band U2, Geldof has said, “The boys and girls with guitars will finally get to turn the world on its axis.”
Geldof was knighted in July 1986 by Queen Elizabeth and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The following year he wrote an autobiography, “Is That It?” He has released several albums, both with the “Boomtown Rats” and solo since the group split up in 1986. In June 2005 the Rats sued Geldof for non-payment of royalties.
The only son of a traveling salesman, Geldof knew tragedy early in life. His mother suffered a fatal brain hemorrhage when he was 7 and his sister was diagnosed with leukemia shortly afterward. He says he has been political since he was a boy when his father issued emphatic opinions which the children would then debate. The often sloppy-looking musician has been described as abrasive, tactless, foul-mouthed and irreverent. He is nevertheless convincing when inspired. He married TV presenter Paula Yates in June 1986. In February 1995, after nine years of marriage and three daughters, Yates left him for musician Michael Hutchence, and the Geldof divorce became final in May 1996. In October 1996, Geldof won temporary custody of their three girls, whimsically named Fifi Trixibelle, born in April 1983, Peaches Honeyblossom, born in 1989, and Pixie, born in 1990. After Hutchence’s 1997 suicide and with Yates fighting depression and drug addiction, Geldof won primary custody of his daughters in October 1998. In disintegrating mental health, Yates was found dead in her London home on September 17, 2000, of a drug overdose. The following day Geldof was awarded temporary custody of Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily, born in August 1996 to Yates and Hutchence. The courts rejected an application from Hutchence’s half-sister to take custody of the child, and on December 18, 2000 awarded custody to Geldof so that Tiger Lily could remain with her sisters. After involvement in his own court custody battles, Geldof became an activist for fathers’ rights.
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.
On 7 April 2014, his daughter Peaches died (born 13 March 1989, London).
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