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Robert
Frederick Xenon "Bob"
Geldof, KBE (born
October 5, 1951) is an
Irish singer,
songwriter, actor and
political activist. He
is sometimes called
'Saint' Bob as a result
of his high profile
charity work.
Geldof
was born Robert
Frederick Xenon Geldof
in Dún Laoghaire,
County Dublin to parents
of Irish and Belgian
extraction. He attended
Blackrock College near
Dublin, a school whose
staunch Catholic
nationalist ethos he
disliked. After work as
a slaughterman, road
navvy and pea canner, he
started as a music
journalist in Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada
for the weekly Georgia
Straight publication. He
became lead singer of
the Irish band Boomtown
Rats in 1975, a rock
group closely linked
with the punk
movement.
In
1978, they had their
first Number 1 single
with "Rat Trap", which
was the first New Wave
chart-topper in the UK.
In 1979 the group shot
to international fame
with the follow-up, "I
Don't Like Mondays."
[2] This was
equally successful, as
well as controversial;
Geldof wrote it in the
aftermath of Brenda Ann
Spencer's attempted
massacre at an
elementary school across
the street from her
house in San Diego,
California at the
beginning of 1979. It
was later covered by
rock group Bon Jovi when
Geldof joined them for a
duet of the song on June
25, 1995 at a concert in
Wembley Stadium in
London, almost exactly
ten years after Geldof
performed the song at
Live Aid.
Geldof
quickly became known as
a colourful spokesperson
for rock music. The
Boomtown Rats' first
appearance on Ireland's
The Late Late Show led
to complaints from
viewers. He had limited
success as an actor, his
most notable role being
the lead in the 1982
film Pink Floyd The
Wall, based on the Pink
Floyd album The
Wall.
Websites:
Bob
Geldof
- Official site of
musician and activist
Bob Geldof.
News:
Bob
Geldof Gig To Open
Culture
Fest
13 September
2006
Bob
Geldof Moves To Tackle
Corruption
15 February
2006
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