Bob Geldof (born October 5, 1951, in Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin) is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor, political activist, author, and entrepreneur. He first became widely known as the frontman and principal songwriter of the Boomtown Rats, a band that brought an outspoken Irish voice to the punk and new wave movements of the late 1970s.
Before entering music, Geldof worked as a journalist in Canada. He returned to Ireland in 1975 and formed the Boomtown Rats, initially under another name. The band soon developed a reputation for sharp social commentary, energetic performances, and Geldof's confrontational public persona. Their early albums combined punk urgency with increasingly ambitious pop songwriting. "Rat Trap" became the group's first UK number-one single in 1978, followed the next year by "I Don't Like Mondays."
Written after Geldof learned about a school shooting in San Diego, "I Don't Like Mondays" turned a disturbing news story into a tense, highly memorable pop song. Its success made Geldof an international star, although the song's subject and presentation also attracted controversy. The Boomtown Rats continued to release albums through the first half of the 1980s, including The Fine Art of Surfacing and In the Long Grass, before Geldof left the group in 1986. The band later reunited for live performances and new activity.
Geldof also made a notable screen appearance in Pink Floyd - The Wall (1982), directed by Alan Parker. He played Pink, the isolated rock star at the center of Roger Waters' story. Although Geldof was not an established film actor, his intense and physically demanding performance became one of the film's defining elements. His work in The Wall remains his best-known acting role.
His career changed direction dramatically in 1984, when television reports about famine in Ethiopia prompted him and Ultravox musician Midge Ure to organize Band Aid. The collective recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas?", a charity single that brought together many leading British and Irish performers and became a major international success. Geldof and Ure then helped organize Live Aid, a pair of large-scale concerts held at Wembley Stadium in London and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia on July 13, 1985. Broadcast globally, Live Aid established the modern benefit concert as a powerful media and fundraising event.
Geldof received an honorary knighthood in 1986 for his humanitarian work. Because he is an Irish citizen, the honor does not make him a British knight, although he is often informally called "Sir Bob." His activism continued through campaigns for debt relief, trade reform, and increased development support for Africa. In 2005, he organized Live 8, a series of concerts intended to influence G8 leaders during discussions about poverty and African development. He also worked with Bono on related advocacy efforts and served as a member of the Africa Progress Panel.
As a solo artist, Geldof released albums including Deep in the Heart of Nowhere, The Vegetarians of Love, The Happy Club, and Sex, Age & Death. His solo work retained the wit and directness of his earlier songwriting while allowing for a more personal and eclectic style. Through music, film, activism, television production, and business, Geldof has maintained an unusual career built on the combination of provocation, showmanship, and political engagement.