Bob Geldof

Robert Frederick Xenon Geldof, KBE (born October 5, 1954 in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin) is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and political activist, known simply as Bob Geldof. He is of Irish and Belgian extraction.

Fame and infamy

After Live Aid, Geldof became one of the world's most recognisable people. He became particularly known for his use of strong language in conversation, regardless of his target audience. It was widely claimed that he exhorted viewers to "give us your fuckin' money" in the course of an afternoon session at the BBC's Wembley studio during Live Aid. However this is a urban myth. He actually said "People are dying NOW. Give us the money NOW. Give me the money now." Shortly afterward he said "Fuck the address, just give the phone, here's the number... if you don't give me the money I will rape this cute little Ethiopian baby" when trying to emphasise the point of Live Aid as as a fundraising event.

Related Topics:
Wembley - Urban myth - Live Aid

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Political views and controversies

Bob Geldof adopted an anti-euro stance by appearing in an advertisement against the single currency http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2080930.stm in 2002. Geldof also criticised the European Union (EU) in 2004 for what he called its 'pathetic' response to Ethiopia's food crisis http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2939878.stm. Glenys Kinnock, an MEP (Member of the European Parliament), has accused Bob Geldof of getting his facts wrong http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/2947560.stm. During a visit to Ethiopia, Geldof also praised President George W. Bush's proposal to fight AIDS in Africa http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=1960. This proposal has been criticised from aid groups due to its heavy emphasis on Christian morality and sexual abstinence http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1447713,00.html. Some critics have claimed that Bob Geldof is becoming the acceptable face of euroscepticism http://www.guardian.co.uk/netnotes/article/0,6729,748092,00.html. Geldof is also an active fathers' rights spokesperson in the United Kingdom http://www.parents4protest.co.uk/_private/bob-geldof-fathers-rights.htm.

Related Topics:
Euro - 2002 - European Union - 2004 - Ethiopia - Glenys Kinnock - Member of the European Parliament - George W. Bush - AIDS - Africa - Christian - Morality - Sexual abstinence - Euroscepticism - Fathers' rights

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Career after the Boomtown Rats

After Live Aid Geldof returned to his career as a musician, successfully releasing a series of solo albums. He also performed with David Gilmour and Thin Lizzy. Along with U2's Bono, he has devoted much time since 2000 to campaigning against African governments having to repay their debts to the first world countries and banks.

Related Topics:
David Gilmour - Thin Lizzy - U2 - Bono - 2000

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He has also worked as a DJ for XFM radio. (In 1998 he erroneously announced the death from cancer of Ian Dury, possibly due to hoax information from a listener disgruntled at the station's change of ownership. The incident caused music paper NME to call Geldof "the world's worst DJ".)

Related Topics:
XFM - 1998 - Erroneously announced - Ian Dury - NME

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Relationship with Paula Yates

As Geldof became world famous, his personal life was affected by bitter tragedy. He had met long-term partner Paula Yates when, as a rock journalist, she became an obsessed fan of the Rats in their early days. They got together as a couple when she hopped on an aeroplane to Paris to surprise him when the band was playing gigs there.

Related Topics:
Paula Yates - Aeroplane - Paris

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The couple married in 1986 after a long and happy relationship. They had two more daughters, Peaches Honeyblossom and Pixie Frou-Frou (the latter named after a celebrity daughter character from Celeb cartoon in the satirical magazine Private Eye, itself a lampoon of Geldof's earlier children's names), to follow their eldest, Fifi Trixibelle, who was born prior to their wedding. Simon Le Bon (of Duran Duran) was Geldof's best man.

Related Topics:
1986 - Peaches Honeyblossom - Pixie Frou-Frou - Private Eye - Simon Le Bon - Duran Duran - Best man

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Yates, former presenter of cutting-edge music show The Tube, left Geldof for Michael Hutchence, singer with INXS, whom she met when interviewing him on The Big Breakfast, the show produced by Geldof's production company after it won the contract to provide a morning news and entertainment show for Channel 4.

Related Topics:
The Tube - Michael Hutchence - INXS - The Big Breakfast - Channel 4

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Yates had a daughter (named Heavenly Hiraani Tigerlily) with Hutchence. When Hutchence was found dead in a hotel room in 1997, Geldof went to court and obtained full custody of his three daughters. His experiences at the time of his divorce have led him to become an outspoken advocate of fathers' rights. After Yates's death from an overdose, Geldof became the legal guardian of Tigerlily, believing that she should be raised with her three half-sisters.

Related Topics:
1997 - Fathers' rights

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Geldof is profitably involved in business activities and was rumoured for a time to be considering seeking election to the office of President of Ireland in 2004. The rumours were later dismissed as the product of inaccurate media speculation.

Related Topics:
President of Ireland - 2004

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Grumpy Old Man

In 2005 Geldof was featured in a BBC documentary called Grumpy Old Men. The show featured men of the baby boom era airing their grievances about life.

Related Topics:
2005 - BBC - Grumpy Old Men - Baby boom

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Genealogy

In his 1986 autobiography (with Paul Vallely) Is That It? (ISBN 014009363X), Geldof notes that his surname is extremely rare in Ireland and first appeared with his grandfather, a war criminal who immigrated from Belgium at the start of the twentieth century.

Related Topics:
1986 - Autobiography - Paul Vallely - Belgium

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Wealth

Geldof's wealth was estimated by Broadcast magazine in 2001 to be £30m http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/1495976.stm, a position of 18th in a list of UK broadcasters.

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He is currently embroiled in a legal wrangle with his former bandmates in the Boomtown Rats, the latter accusing him of withholding from them substantial profits from the bands' recordings.

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Actor

Geldof played the central character Pink in the film of Pink Floyd's "The Wall".

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