The Irish musician reacts to many people including fellow entertainers Emeli Sande and Lily Allen who criticize the new version of 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'
- Nov 26, 2014
AceShowbiz - Sinead O'Connor has responded to the criticism surrounding the new Band Aid single. The outspoken singer, who was among those recording a new version of "Do They Know It's Christmas?", told critics to "shut the f**k up" as she spoke to U.K.'s Daily Telegraph.
As previously reported, the charity song drew backlash because of its altered lyrics. Some changes were made to reflect the Ebola crisis in West Africa. However, many thought that the new lyrics reinforced negative stereotypes of Africa.
Stars like Emeli Sande and Lily Allen were among those critics. The former, who's also featured on the charity single, wrote on Twitter, "Yes, I agree the lyric needed changing. In fact, I feel a whole new song is required." She went on revealing she and African artist Angelique Kidjo sang their own lyrics, but their edits didn't make the cut to the final version. She then apologized if the lyrics "caused offense."
I've been having so many discussions about this all week. Here are my thoughts on the band aid single... pic.twitter.com/djeYgT9elF
— Emeli Sand�����© (@emelisande) November 22, 2014When asked how she thought about the criticism, O'Connor said, "If you didn't like the lyrics you shouldn't have agreed to sing the song. I think it's smug of Lily Allen to say it's smug. The assumption that anyone performing on the record has not privately given money is exactly that, an assumption."
In addition to O'Connor and Sande, the new take on "Do They Know It's Christmas?" features big names like Ellie Goulding, Ed Sheeran, Bono, Chris Martin, Rita Ora and One Direction. Its original version, performed by Bob Geldof, was released in 1984 to raise money to fight famine in Ethiopia.
