Bob Geldof first established himself with the punk band Boomtown Rats. Formed in 1975 in a town near Dublin, Ireland, the band moved to London the following year and released their self-titled debut in ’77. By 1979 the Rats had two No. 1 singles in the U.K.: "Rat Trap" (1978) and "I Don’t Like Mondays" (1979). In 1982 Geldof played the lead role in Alan Parker’s film Pink Floyd The Wall. And two years later, while still singing for the Rats, Geldof watched a BBC documentary about famine in Ethopia and was inspired to use his fame for a cause. He organized Band Aid, a gathering of mostly British pop stars who lent their voices to the charity single "Do They Know It’s Christmas." The song became the best-selling single in U.K. history, and inspired an American version, "We Are the World," the following year. At the same time, Geldof organized Live Aid, two all-star concerts held simultaneously in London’s Wembley Stadium and Philadelphia’s JFK Stadium on July 13, 1985. Geldof’s efforts raised millions of dollars for Africa, and he was nominated for a Nobel Prize and knighted. After the publication of his best-selling memoir, Is That All? he split with the Rats in 1986 and launched a solo career with the tepidly received Deep in the Heart of Nowhere. The Vegetarians of Love followed in 1990 and Happy Club in 1993. Geldof continued his efforts on behalf of Africa’s poor throughout the 1990s and joined Wyclef Jean, Bono P. Diddy and others for 1999’s NetAid Concerts, which were broadcast simultaneously over the Internet, television and radio. He released Sex, Age and Death in 2002.

Reviews

• Sex, Age & Death