thumb|right|Bob Geldof
'''Robert Frederick Xenon 'Bob' Geldof''', KBE (born October 5 1954) is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and political activist.
He is sometimes called 'St Bob', as a result of his high profile charity work though he has also been accused of being self-serving and using charity to promote himself. http://www.johnlydon.com/sun05.html, http://www.deadbrain.co.uk/news/article_2006_01_05_0628.php
Early career
Geldof was born Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, to parents of Irish and Belgian extraction. He attended Blackrock College, near Dublin, a school whose staunch Catholic nationalist ethos he disliked. After work as a slaughterman, road navvy and pea canner, he started as a music journalist in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for the weekly publication ''Georgia Straight''. Upon returning to Ireland in 1975, he became the lead singer of the Irish band The Boomtown Rats, a rock group closely linked with the punk movement.
In 1978, The Boomtown Rats had their first No. 1 single in the UK with "Rat Trap", which was the first New Wave chart-topper in that country. In 1979, the group shot to international fame with their second UK No. 1, "I Don't Like Mondays".
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2941142.stm] This was equally successful, as well as controversial; Geldof wrote it in the aftermath of Brenda Ann Spencer's attempted massacre at an elementary school across the street from her house in San Diego, California, at the beginning of 1979. It was later covered by rock group Bon Jovi, when Geldof joined them for a duet of the song on June 25, 1995, at a concert in Wembley Stadium in London, almost exactly ten years after Geldof performed the song at Live Aid.
Geldof quickly became known as a colourful spokesperson for rock music. The Boomtown Rats' first appearance on Ireland's ''The Late Late Show'' led to complaints from viewers. He had limited success as an actor, his most notable role being the lead in the 1982 film ''
Pink Floyd The Wall'', based on Pink Floyd's album ''
The Wall''.
Charity work
Geldof's first major charity involvement occurred in September 1981, when he performed as a solo artist for Amnesty International's benefit show ''The Secret Policeman's Other Ball'', at the invitation of Amnesty show producer Martin Lewis; he performed a solo version of "I Don't Like Mondays". Other rock artists performing at the show included Sting, Eric Clapton and Phil Collins. All of these became people that Geldof later called on for Band Aid and Live Aid. Geldof sang back-up vocals on the
