Fight against famine put Geldof on the world stage

Bob Geldof hit the big time as leader of the new wave band the Boomtown Rats, but it was getting musicians behind the fight against African famine that put him on the world stage.

Geldof was born Robert Frederick Xenon Geldof in Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin, and when his mother died when he was seven, grew up with his travelling salesman father.