Ed Sheeran has claimed he did not give his consent for his vocals to be used on the new Band Aid 40 release. The 'Shape of You' hitmaker originally recorded his part for Band Aid 30's release of the festive charity classic 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' in 2014. And to mark the 40th anniversary of the original hit - which was released to raise money and awareness of famine in Africa in 1984 and spearheaded by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure - the ‘2024 Ultimate Mix’ was announced, which sees artists who appeared on the original and the 2014 version sing alongside each other.
Ed, who sings with Sting, has since claimed he didn't sign off on his vocals being used for the remix and explained why the "narrative" around the song doesn't sit well with him a decade on by re-sharing a post by Ghanaian-English star Fuse ODG. He posted to his Instagram Story: “My approval wasn’t sought on this new Band Aid 40 release and had I had the choice I would have respectfully declined the use of my vocals. “A decade on and my understanding of the narrative associated with this has changed, eloquently explained by [Fuse ODG].
“This is just my personal stance. I’m hoping it’s a forward-looking one. Love to all.
” Rapper Fuse refused to join the 2014 supergroup - which also included the likes of One Direction, Sam Smith and Ellie Goulding, and original contributor Bono - and accused the song of "costing the continent trillions" by stifling its "economic growth, tourism and investment" wi.