On November 25th, 1984, Band Aid began recording the iconic charity single, "Do They Know It's Christmas?", in London. The song was written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983-1985 famine in Ethiopia. Band Aid was a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of popular British and Irish musical acts. When released on December 7th, 1984, the single entered the UK singles charts at number one, where it remained for five weeks, becoming Christmas number one. It sold one million copies in the first week, making it the fastest selling single in UK chart history until Elton John released "Candle in the Wind 1997". UK sales passed three million on the last day of 1984. "Do They Know It's Christmas?" raised 8 million pounds for Ethiopia within the first year, far exceeding Geldof's hopes. The success led to several other charity singles and events including "We Are The World" by USA for Africa, and the Live Aid benefit concert in 1985.
