Band Aid 40 listeners brand revamped charity single a ‘hot mess’ and claim track is ‘absolutely ruined’ – as creator Bob Geldof breaks down in tears over the ‘work of art’ song

Listeners turning in to hear the revamped Band Aid 40 charity single have branded it a ‘hot mess’ and claimed the song has been ‘absolutely ruined’. 

To celebrate the iconic charity track’s 40th Anniversary, a brand new version – Do They Know It’s Christmas? 2024 Ultimate Mix – alongside a special video, has been released on Monday.

Do They Know It’s Christmas? has been recorded on three separate occasions, Band Aid (1984), Band Aid 20 (2004) and Band Aid 30 (2014), offering snapshots at some of music’s biggest stars, and how they’ve changed throughout the decades. 

To mark the occasion, producer Trevor Horn has taken the three recordings and, through extraordinary music production techniques, blended all the voices of those separate generations into one seamless track. 

However, the latest offering hasn’t gone down well with listeners hearing the first glimpse of the track on BBC Radio 2, with many taking to X to slam the song.

Meanwhile, the song’s creator Bob Geldof broke down in tears as he joined presenter Zoe Ball on her morning show to listen to the track, as he hailed it a ‘work of art’.