Editing Bob Geldof (section)

==Musical career==
===The Boomtown Rats===
Returning to Ireland in 1975, he became the lead singer of [[the Boomtown Rats]], a [[rock group]] closely linked with the [[punk rock|punk]] movement. In 1978, The Boomtown Rats had their first No. 1 single in the UK with "Rat Trap", the first [[New wave music|new wave]] chart-topper in Britain. In 1979, they gained international attention with their second UK No. 1, [[I Don't Like Mondays (song)|"I Don't Like Mondays"]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2941142.stm | work=BBC News | title=Geldof: From singer to saint | date=27 May 2003 | access-date=26 April 2010}}</ref> This was both successful and controversial. Geldof had written it [[Cleveland Elementary School shooting (San Diego)|in the aftermath]] of [[Brenda Ann Spencer]]'s attempted [[School massacre|massacre]] at an elementary school in [[San Diego]], [[California]], in 1979.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/justice-story/justice-story-don-mondays-article-1.1504277 |title=Justice Story: 16-year-old girl shoots up school, tells reporter 'I Don't Like Mondays' |publisher=NY Daily News |access-date=10 April 2014}}</ref> In 1980, The Boomtown Rats released the album ''[[Mondo Bongo]]''.

Geldof became known as a colourful interview subject. The Boomtown Rats' first appearance on Ireland's ''[[The Late Late Show (Irish talk show)|The Late Late Show]]'' saw Geldof as deliberately brusque to host [[Gay Byrne]] and during his interview, he attacked Irish politicians and the Catholic Church, which he blamed for many of the country's problems. He responded to nuns in the audience who tried to shout him down by saying they had "an easy life with no material worries in return for which they gave themselves body and soul to the church". He also criticised [[Blackrock College]]. The interview caused uproar, making it impossible for The Boomtown Rats to play in Ireland again.<ref name="GeldofBio" />

In January 2013, Geldof announced The Boomtown Rats would be reforming to play together for the first time since 1986 at that year's [[Isle of Wight Festival 2013|Isle of Wight Festival]] in June. They have subsequently announced further tour dates and released a new CD ''[[Back to Boomtown: Classic Rats Hits]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jonze |first=Tim |date=28 January 2013 |title=Boomtown Rats re-form for Isle of Wight festival |url= https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/28/boomtown-rats-reform-isle-of-wight-festival |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |access-date=14 October 2014 }}</ref>

===After the Boomtown Rats===
[[File:Bob Geldof Rock am Ring 1987.jpg|left|upright|thumb|Geldof performing as a solo artist in 1987]]

Geldof left the Boomtown Rats in 1986 to launch a solo career and publish his autobiography, ''Is That It?'',<ref name="GeldofBio" /> which was a UK best-seller.

His first solo records sold reasonably well and spawned the hit singles "This Is The World Calling" (co-written with [[Dave Stewart (Eurythmics)|Dave Stewart]] of [[Eurythmics]]) and "The Great Song of Indifference". He also occasionally performed with other artists, such as [[David Gilmour]] and [[Thin Lizzy]]; a performance of "[[Comfortably Numb]]" with Gilmour is documented in the DVD release ''[[David Gilmour in Concert]]'' (2002). In 1992, he performed at the [[Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert]] with the surviving members of [[Queen (band)|Queen]] at the old [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]], singing a song he jokingly claimed to have co-written with Mercury, called "Too Late God". (The song was actually co-written by [[Karl Hyde]].)

Geldof has also worked as a DJ for [[XFM]] radio. In 1998, he [[List of premature obituaries|erroneously announced]] [[Ian Dury]]'s death from cancer, possibly due to hoax information from a listener who was disgruntled at the station's change of ownership.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/500829/geldof-falsely-reports-dury-death.jhtml | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514234944/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/500829/geldof-falsely-reports-dury-death.jhtml | url-status=dead | archive-date=14 May 2013 |title=Geldof Falsely Reports Dury Death |publisher=  MTV |date=27 August 1998}}</ref> The event caused music paper ''[[NME]]'' (who had been involved in a running feud with Geldof since his Boomtown Rats days—primarily due to his disparagement of [[The Clash]]) to call Geldof 'the world's worst DJ'.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/330571.stm |title=Geldof's choice a hit  |work=  BBC News |date=28 April 1999}}</ref>

[[File:Breiti, Campino, Bob Geldof.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Geldof performing with [[Die Toten Hosen]] at Your Voice Against Poverty concert in [[Rostock, Germany|Rostock]], Germany on 7 June 2007]]
Along with [[U2]]'s Bono, he has devoted much time since 2000 to campaigning for [[debt relief]] for developing countries. His commitments in this field, including the organisation of the Live 8 concerts, kept Geldof from producing any more musical output since 2001's album ''[[Sex, Age & Death]]''.

In 2002, he was listed as one of the [[100 Greatest Britons]] in a poll conducted among the general public,<ref name=BBC100>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2208671.stm| title=100 great British heroes| work=BBC News| publisher=BBC| date=21 August 2002| access-date=7 July 2012}}</ref> despite not being British.

After Live 8, Geldof returned to his career as a musician by releasing a box set containing all of his solo albums entitled ''Great Songs of Indifference – The Anthology 1986–2001'' in late 2005. Following that release, Geldof toured, albeit with mixed success.

In July 2006, Geldof arrived at [[Milan]]'s [[Arena Civica]], a venue capable of holding 12,000 people, to play a scheduled concert to find that the organisers had not put the tickets on general sale and that only 45 people had shown up.<ref>{{cite news | author=Barbara McMahon in Rome | url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1827401,00.html |title=Guardian: Geldof cancels Italian tour after only 45 fans turn up for Milan gig |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date= 24 July 2006|access-date=10 August 2010 | location=London}}</ref> Geldof refused to go on stage once he found out how small the attendance was. To offer some compensation for fans, Geldof stopped to sign autographs for those who had shown up. He then played a well-attended free ''Storytellers'' concert for [[MTV Italy]] in Naples, in October 2006.