Martin urges public to buy Band Aid even if they hate it

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has urged the British public to buy copies of Band Aid 20 single Do They Know It's Christmas?, even if they hate the song.

Martin joined a host of stars including Dido, Robbie Williams, Bono and The Sugababes for the remake of the 1984 charity track, to raise money for the victims of civil unrest in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Martin says: "I've encountered a lot of cynicism about Band Aid. People say: 'The song's rubbish,' or, 'The words are rubbish.' It's not about the song. It's about the famine images you see in the video.

"It would be no different if a bunch of pop stars were standing about banging pots and saying, 'We're interested in this thing that's going on in Africa.' I don't think anybody did it for musical reasons."