Talk:Bob Geldof

Anti-Geldof Compilation (Criticism of Live8)

Is there any way to smoothly fit this into the Criticsm of Live8 section? In 2007, U.K. black metal label Supernal Records released the Anti-Geldof Compilation^[99], advertised as "the only musical effort in the world that took a stand against the global insanity" with "exclusive, never-heard-before tracks by twenty one Black Metal and Dark Ambient artists of proud European heritage from both sides of the Atlantic, including ASHES, ASTROFAES, BENIGHTED LEAMS, BEWITCHED, CONTRA IGNEM FATUUM, DARK AGES, DARKTHULE, DEFIANCE, (HAKENKREUZZUG side project), DER STURMER, ETHEREAL WOODS, FANISK, FOREFATHER, HAMMER, KENAZ, :STALAGGH:, TANNGRISNIR, THE WIZZARD, THESYRE, ULFHETHNAR, WHITE HUNTER, and WOODS OF INFINITY," according the description in Iron Sky Publishing's website^[100]. The 2-CD set came with a 28-page booklet "with information and a polemic exposing the repugnant ideology that lurks beneath Geldof's foul-mouthed diatribes and the high-flown universalism associated with the self-righteous poverty campaign."^[100]

99. 100.

I'd have to say "No." Far too much detail and vitriol - it sounds too much like both a rant at Geldof, and an advert to sell CD's. Chaheel Riens (talk) 06:54, 14 July 2012 (UTC)

It could be combined with a mention of Chumbawumba's "Pictures of Starving Children sell records" which was released at the time of Live aid. Perhaps with a comment that some pop musicians openly opposed Geldof's work Pignut (talk) 14:28, 20 April 2016 (UTC)

Paula Yates - Geldof's wife

Under Personal Life it says: "Geldof met Paula when she became an obsessed fan of the Boomtown Rats during the band's early days. They got together as a couple in 1976 when Yates travelled by aeroplane to Paris, to surprise him when the band was playing there." What is the source of this info and what exactly does "got together" mean? Was Paula just 16 years old when they "got together"? Lomboksurf (talk) 14:05, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

Geldof's Net Worth?

What is Geldof's net worth? How has his wealth increased from the mid-80s to today? Lomboksurf (talk) 14:51, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

POV

"the nickname 'Sir Bob' has stuck, and media reports will frequently (but erroneously) refer to him as 'Sir Bob Geldof' as if that were his correct title." It may well be erroneous, but the wording in the brackets express an original point of view, and isnot needed because "as if that were his correct title" also implicitly conveys the same information. So unless a reliable secondary source is cited the words "(but erroneously)" should be removed, as a breach of POV or OR (take your pick). -- PBS (talk) 10:40, 2 September 2010 (UTC)

BBC retracts claims

I have removed these claims per the latest retractions from the BBC.[1] Full coverage can be found archived on the BBC World Service website for November 4, 2010. Viriditas (talk) 02:59, 6 November 2010 (UTC)

Parents

There are some strange dates here. It is hard to believe that he was born after the death of his mother.--Grahame (talk) 01:15, 31 December 2010 (UTC)

Opening sentence

Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE (born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. Isn't he also a (very wealthy) businessman? Headhitter (talk) 13:04, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

Is he a "political activist"? He claims that he avoids politics.101.98.175.68 (talk) 05:16, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

Fathers rights movement

[2] seems inconsistent. Kittybrewster ☎ 07:39, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

Background

Out of intererst, is anyone aware of Geldof's background in more detail? Namely was the Belgian grandparent Wallonian or Flemish, or anything else? The Jewish grandparent also - any "pre-English roots"? East/Central European perhaps? Normally the Jews from Britain have ancenstry from these places. It's rare that one just converts to the faith without links (such as marriage) to an ethnic Jew. Just curious. Evlekis (Евлекис) (argue) 16:12, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Having read his autobiography, there's no more information there. I doubt you'd be able to find anything verifiable in regards to that. Achowat (talk) 16:15, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Thanks Achowat. I confess to never having thought that he might have some external background to him and so my guess what that he was "pure" Irish. It would be nice if something ever emerges to update the information but until then, it looks good to me. Evlekis (Евлекис) (argue) 15:14, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Criticism/Controversy sections

The criticism and controversy sections should be merged into the relevant normal sections as per WP policy. Ashmoo (talk) 19:50, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

Sir Bob Geldof?

Isn't the restriction on using the title "Sir" only for Commonwealth realms? The Republic of Ireland probably doesn't recognize titles at all. So I would assume any media (if it is not in a Commonwealth realms nation) reporting on him would not be legally required to drop the title part of his name. I think in the U.S., for example, anyone can legally change their name to a name with "Sir" or "Lord" in front of it, because the title carries no legal status/privilege/precedence in America anyway. Isn't Wikipedia based in the U.S. (ie, legally, it follows U.S. laws/rules, not Commonwealth ones). So you could argue that any media organizations in non-Commonwealth realms countries can legally can him "Sir" (even if that would not be considered appropriate by some). I suppose the status of the "Sir" title is decided by the UK anyway, as it is their award. But not all countries would have any recognition *at all* for having or not having the title. Isn't Wikipedia supposed to be a website for the whole world, not just the Commonwealth realms or the U.S.? Maybe the title on his Wikipedia page should be based on the status in the Republic of Ireland (which probably doesn't like people using "Sir" in front of their name, even if it has no legal status/privileges in their country. Whether it is actually illegal to use the title "Sir" in the Irish republic, I don't know. Presumably the UK has no control over what the Irish (and their media) do.

Perusing our List of honorary British knights and dames, I note names such as Bob Hope, Spike Milligan, Ravi Shankar, Steven Spielberg, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, George S. Patton, Bill Gates, Billy Graham, J Edgar Hoover, George H W Bush, Ronald Reagan, Rudy Giuliani, Alan Greenspan, Teddy Kennedy, Hamid Karzai, Nelson Mandela, Fidel Ramos, Suharto, Josip Tito, and hundreds of others. Not a single one of these people ever used the title Sir, in any context whatsoever. That's because an honorary knighthood simply does not carry with it any sort of title. Recipients get postnominal letters, that's all.

Why should Mr Bob Geldof KBE, alone of all these notable people, be an exception? Answer: He shouldn't and he isn't. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 11:43, 23 February 2014 (UTC)

That said, because he is so often referred to as "Sir Bob" by independent, reliable sources, the name should be (and is) mentioned in the text. Achowat (talk) 01:45, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

I'd call them otherwise-reliable sources. If a lot of independent, otherwise-reliable sources say that, for example, Tom Cruise's real name is Frederick Smith, we should certainly mention that, but only by way of refuting it with reference to more-reliable sources that say his real name is Thomas Cruise Mapother. Similarly, we can report that many sources give Geldof a pre-nominal "Sir", but we should not give the impression that this is any way a correct or appropriate title. Twenty million Frenchmen can sometimes be dead wrong. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 01:57, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

It is not simply a matter of custom. Geldorf remains an Irish citizen, and the knighthood honorary. He was not dubbed by the Queen, and the dubbing creates a knighthood. If he became a British citizen/subject of the Queen, his knighthood would become substantive if he was dubbed by the Queen, but would not automatically be "upgraded". In a real sense an honorary knighthood is not a "knighthood", but a "KBE".101.98.175.68 (talk) 05:20, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

It's not strictly true that the dubbing creates the knighthood. Knights may use the "Sir" as soon as their title is gazetted. And dames aren't dubbed at all, but they still use a title. A recipient of an honorary knighthood or damehood actually usually starts to use the title as soon as they receive British or Commonwealth Realm citizenship. Sometimes there is an announcement in the London Gazette that the honour has been made substantive, but that's the exception rather than the rule. -- Necrothesp (talk) 15:14, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

politics section re bush proposal

The politics section mentioned that Geldof supported a Bush program to fight AIDS in Africa. This was followed by a remark that the program has been criticized for its emphasis on "Christian morality"; I removed this remark as only being tangentially related to the subject of the article. There is plenty of criticism (and support) for any political position that Geldof (or whoever) could take. They can go in the appropriate articles for those positions, and shouldn't be selectively added to this article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.12.245.132 (talk) 22:21, 24 December 2015 (UTC)