Ed Sheeran says Band Aid 40 organisers did not seek his approval to use his vocals in the new version of the charity hit Do They Know It’s Christmas?

The Shape Of You star said he would have “respectively declined” any permission, going on to share another post criticising foreign aid in Africa.

The new version of the festive hit blends previous recordings to create an “ultimate” mix from Band Aid 1984 including the voices of George Michael, Sting and Boy George, alongside the likes of Harry Styles, Chris Martin and the Sugababes, who appeared on the Band Aid 20 and Band Aid 30 versions in 2004 and 2014.

Sheeran had previously sung on Band Aid 30 alongside One Direction, Sam Smith and Coldplay’s Chris Martin.

The 33-year-old singer wrote in an Instagram story: “My approval wasn’t sought on this new Band Aid 40 release and had I had the choice I would have respectfully declined the use of my vocals.

“A decade on and my understanding of the narrative associated with this has changed, eloquently explained by @fuseodg. This is just my personal stance, I’m hoping it’s a forward-looking one. Love to all x.”

Sheeran referenced a post by Ghanaian-English singer, songwriter and rapper Fuse ODG, who worked with him on the track Boa Me.

Fuse ODG said that a decade earlier he “refused” to be part of the Band Aid 30 song as he feels that while the charity helps get “sympathy and donations, they perpetuate damaging stereotypes that stifle Africa’s economic growth, tourism, and investment”.

The rapper added: “By showcasing dehumanising imagery, these initiatives fuel pity rather than partnership, discouraging meaningful engagement.

“My mission has been to reclaim the narrative, empowering Africans to tell their own stories, redefine their identity, and position Africa as a thriving hub for investment and tourism.

“Today, the diaspora drives the largest flow of funds back into the continent, not Band Aid or foreign aid proving that Africa’s solutions and progress lies in its own hands.”

Sheeran has also worked with other African artists including Nigerian singers Fireboy DML and Burna Boy.

The original Band Aid single released in 1984 featured artists led by Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof and Ultravox’s Midge Ure to help charities working with starving children in Ethiopia. It sold a million copies in the first week alone.

For the new version, the singers will be backed by the Band Aid house band of Sir Paul McCartney, Sting, Duran Duran’s John Taylor, Phil Collins, Queen’s Roger Taylor, Supergrass’s Danny Goffey, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, Paul Weller, Damon Albarn, Ure, Gary Kemp and Justin Hawkins.

Premiering on 25 November, the song will be physically released too on 29 November, with a minimum of £5 donated to the Band Aid Trust when the single is sold on vinyl, a minimum of £1.50 donated when the single is sold on CD, and a minimum 50p donated when the single is digitally downloaded.

Standard Glastonbury Festival tickets for 2025 sold out in less than 40 minutes after organisers adopted a new booking system.

The new system saw Glastonbury hopefuls get “randomly assigned a place in a queue” instead of having to refresh the holding page once they went live.

Organisers said: “Thanks to everyone who bought one and sorry to those who missed out, on a morning when demand was much higher than supply. There will be a resale of any cancelled or returned tickets in spring 2025.”

Earlier in the week coach tickets sold out within half an hour for the famous festival in Somerset, which is set to take place between 25 and 29 June next year.

Tickets for the annual event at Worthy Farm sold quicker this year than last year when it took around an hour for all of them to go.

They cost £373.50 plus a £5 booking fee this year, up £18.50 from the price last year, and were sold exclusively through the See Tickets website.

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Ticket sale methods and prices for events have been a controversial topic this year, particularly due to Oasis fans’ experience trying to get tickets to their reunion shows in August.

Fans were left outraged after spending hours queueing for tickets only to find some had more than doubled in price from around £148 to £355.

The band’s long-awaited reunion has led to much speculation that Noel and Liam Gallagher will headline Glastonbury, but they denied this while their tickets were up for sale.

“Despite media speculation, Oasis will not be playing Glastonbury 2025 or any other festivals next year,” they said in a statement. “The only way to see the band perform will be on their Oasis Live ’25 World Tour.”

The headliners this summer on the iconic Pyramid Stage were Dua Lipa, SZA and Coldplay, who made history as the first act to headline the festival five times.

2026 is likely to be a year off for Glastonbury, with the festival traditionally taking place four out of every five years, and the fifth year reserved for rehabilitation of the land.

Mark Webber’s role as Pulp’s fan club manager started simply enough, writing newsletters and posting out small bits of memorabilia such as postcards, stickers and badges. But, just like the band he loved, he wanted to do things a little differently.

A balloon launch to drum up publicity in their hometown of Sheffield didn’t attract too many people, he recalls, but one did make it all the way to Slovenia. The following year, he cut up a pair of Jarvis Cocker‘s trousers into 500 pieces, “all put in individually numbered envelopes and sent out to fans”.

It was 1993, a decade on from the release of Pulp‘s debut album, but still two years before they were to achieve huge mainstream success. A few years later, they decided to offer Cocker’s old Hillman Imp car, no longer roadworthy, as a competition prize. “It was crushed, compacted into a cube, someone won it, and we delivered it in a truck to their garden.”

It was genius silliness, indicative of the time. Nowadays, if you’re a young fan who loves a band or an artist, you assemble on social media – but back in the 1990s, it was all about signing up to the official fan club.

For Webber, who started out as a Pulp fan himself, it was a dream job which eventually led to him becoming the band’s tour manager – and then, just before they hit the height of their fame, joining as guitarist.

Following the group’s second and long hoped-for reunion in 2023, he is now telling his story – from super fan to joining the band – in I’m With Pulp, Are You?.

It’s not an autobiography as such, but a scrapbook of moments told mainly through ephemera collected over the last five decades, from photographs and flyers to set lists and press clippings, as well as other notes and scribblings kept through the years.

Webber went through his hoard during the pandemic lockdown. “It was in disarray at the time,” he says. “I hadn’t looked at it for so long I was finding things I couldn’t even remember what they were.”

‘We were in a bubble – suddenly the world caught up’

His story with Pulp starts in 1985, when he was an “obsessive” teenage music fan hanging out at a small independent record store in Chesterfield “where all the weird kids would go”. Back then, the band’s fan base was small, he says, and they were “amused” by the “daft, psychedelic kids” who followed them. They got to know them.

Webber eventually started helping out with stages sets before taking on the fan club duties. Then his role morphed again as he was called on to play guitar and keyboards at live shows, and began to contribute to songwriting.

He became an official member in 1995 – just before they became one of the biggest bands in the UK with their fifth album, Different Class, thanks to songs such as Disco 2000, Sorted For E’s and Whizz, and signature track Common People.

“Do you think it’s a coincidence that happened just as I joined?” Webber asks, laughing. “There was this trajectory. There was such a momentum building that it just became clear that, like, every next thing the group did was going to be more successful.”

It was a strange feeling, he says. “Because we were in the bubble at the time, just doing our thing, and suddenly the world had caught up and kind of realised how great Pulp was.”

I’m With Pulp documents some of the milestone moments in the band’s history, such as the 1995 Glastonbury headline set, before the release of Different Class, which came about at short notice after The Stone Roses were forced to pull out. Webber recalls how the band spent the night camping backstage.

“That was horrible because I hate camping,” he says. “And the concert, at the time it didn’t feel like such a great show. But everyone seemed to love it.”

Headlining Glastonbury – but camping in tents

Looking back at the roster of recent Glastonbury headliners – Elton John, Paul McCartney, Adele, Dua Lipa, The Killers – it’s hard to imagine any of them pitching a tent in the mud before performing to 100,000 people.

“Well, I’ve never spent the night in a tent since then,” says Webber. “So it changed my life.”

A more infamous incident in Pulp’s history was Cocker rushing the stage during Michael Jackson’s performance of Earth Song at the Brits the following year.

At the time, it didn’t feel as significant a moment as it has become in popular culture, Webber says. “There was disbelief in the moment, that he actually dared to do it. And that it was so easy to do. That’s the thing none of us could really understand, that there was no security or anything stopping anyone getting on the stage that easily.”

The aftermath was more concerning. “Like, ‘is Jarvis going to go to prison?’ Because we were starting a tour the next day.”

Ultimately, says Webber, most awards ceremonies and industry events are “boring – you have to do something to amuse yourself”.

After splitting in 2002, Pulp reunited for the first time in 2011, and then again for shows last year.

The response was “kind of amazing”, Webber says. It’s “quite likely we will play in England before we disappear again”, he hints. “There’s nothing confirmed yet but we expect there’ll be more concerts next year.”

‘I probably should have enjoyed it more’

The book documents Webber’s story. The item he was most happy to rediscover, he says, was the briefcase he used during his time as tour manager, adorned with a vintage ‘I’m With Pulp, Are You?’ sticker, which provided inspiration for the title.

“I knew I had it somewhere, but what I didn’t expect when I opened it up was that it still contained some contracts, to do lists, itineraries, a Bic biro, a packet of Setlers, and the business cards of various guest houses,” he says. “I used to carry this around everywhere, and in the days before we all had mobile phones, it had to contain everything we’d need for a concert or tour.”

After taking the time to look back, is there anything he would change?

“Well, I mean, I probably should have enjoyed it more.” Webber laughs. “I’m always like the slightly glass half-full, grass is always greener type outlook… I did maintain quite a normal life, I didn’t have an address book full of celebrities that I’d go and hang out with – not that that’s something to aspire to, but, you know, maybe I should have been a bit more wild at the time when I had the chance.”

I’m With Pulp, Are You, published by Hat & Beard, is out now, with a launch night at the ICA in London on 27 November