Bob Geldof: “Band Aid 30 sales manic since its unveiling”

Bob Geldof has revealed that pre-orders of the new Band Aid single have been “manic” since its unveiling.

The Band Aid 30 organizer admitted he had been “a bit nervous” but said the response had been “extraordinary”.

One Direction and Ed Sheeran are among the performers on Do They Know It’s Christmas? to tackle the Ebola outbreak.

A video for the song, re-recorded to raise money to tackle the crisis in West Africa, was shown on ITV’s The X Factor on November 16.

The track is now available to download at a cost of 99p ($1.5). A CD version, costing £4 ($6), will be released in three weeks.

The current Ebola outbreak of the deadly virus was first reported in March and has killed more than 5,000 people, almost all in West Africa.

Bob Geldof and Midge Ure’s first version of Do They Know It’s Christmas? raised £8 million ($12.5 million) for famine relief in Ethiopia.

Rita Ora, Ellie Goulding, Sam Smith and Coldplay’s Chris Martin also attended the recording of the song on Saturday.

According to reports, though, Adele did not respond to a request to take part.

Charity singles are also set to be recorded in the US, France and Germany, with Daft Punk and Carla Bruni among those said to be involved.

Bob Geldof, however, was critical of Germany’s response to the crisis, saying its leaders were not “doing enough” to tackle the epidemic.