Band-Aid hero to jobless zero

HE urged us to Feed The World - but 25 years after Band Aid, Eighties star Marilyn seems only to have fed his FACE.

For the slim, 10st gender bender who recorded Do They Know It's Christmas with Bob Geldof and a host of other pop idols has ballooned to over 17 STONE.

Gone are the blond locks and girly make-up along with the millionaire lifestyle. Bloated Marilyn, 46, is now just a shambling, jobless self-confessed drug addict who lives with his MUM in an ex-council semi.

But today he steps back into the past to reveal how the historic single to raise money for Ethiopian famine helped save Geldof's career. And he also reveals the DRUGS BINGE that took place behind the scenes when it was recorded on November 25, 1984. "It wasn't all about what it was meant to be about," says Marilyn, now on strong painkillers for arthritis.

"Bob hadn't had a hit for a long time and was going to be dropped by Phonogram - the label I was with. He raised a lot of money for charity but it also revived his career.

"Everyone was there for a reason. I was a case of 'if I hadn't turned up, people would think I couldn't give a s*** about Africa either'." Marilyn - who had a 1983 hit with Calling Your Name - says the only SNOW falling at the recording studios in Notting Hill, London, that Christmas was COCAINE smuggled in by rockers Status Quo. "There were lots of drugs and silliness," he says.

"Rik Parfitt had brought in a parcel of coke the size of a Tate & Lyle sugar bag.

NOW - So broke and bloated he's unrecognisable

"Two people took it into a toilet cubicle and were in there 20 minutes. Rick grabbed a fire axe and started smashing through the door, yelling 'he's got the f*****g gear'.It was like something from The Shining."

Heroin addiction ended Marilyn's champagne days of million-pound recording contracts, expensive homes in west London and New York and posing in his Porshe 911. Now he lives in Borehamwood, Herts, and drives a battered green Renault Clio.

"You never get over addictions. You can never say never to heroin. And I don't know if I am winning at the moment," he says.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

FOR some of the Band Aid artists, their careers have gone the same way as their hair. Others are more famous than ever.

And it all happened 25 years ago.

On Sunday, November 25, 1984 a group of British pop stars gathered at Sarm Studios in West London London to record Do They Know It's Christmas.

The session started at 10.30am and many were nursing hangovers.

Only a few had even heard the song Bob Geldof and Midge Ure had written in the hope of raising £250,000 for the famine victims in Ethiopia. And although everybody was there for the cause, not everybody knew what it was.

By the end of the session it had become a full-scale party - enlived by a large bag of cocaine brought along by the boys from Status Quo.

Band Aid went on to raise £8 million and lead to the historic Live Aid concerts the following summer which raised £60 million.

And that in turn lead to Live Eight concerts in 2005 which successfully put pressure on the G8 nations to stump up more cash for Africa.

But what has happened to those musicians from the original Band Aid recording?

We've tracked them all down.

THE BOOMTOWN RATS

BOB GELDOF:

BOOMTOWN RAT - Sir Bob Geldof

The Boomtown Rats singer, 58, went solo and continued to help the developing world with Live Aid in 1986 and Live Eight in 2005.

Made an honorary knight in 1986 - as he is from non-Commonwealth Ireland he is NOT officially a 'Sir'- he amassed an estimated £35million fortune through music and television production. Now lives between London and Mallorca.

PETE BRIQUETTE:

The former Boomtown Rats bass player - real name Patrick Andrew Cusack - is the only band member still close to Geldof after a feud over song royalties.

The 55-year-old took his stage name from the turf burned in fires instead of coal, and is now a record producer, working with Geldof on his album Sex, Age And Death and writing the soundtrack for a film called Rat.

In the 90s he enjoyed success with the French artist Renaud and also teamed up with rapper Tricky, and singers Damon Albarn, Alison Moyet, Nick cave, Robert Palmer and Bjork.

Last seen on UK television on the 2005 Brit Awards, he now lives in Chiswick, West London.

JOHNNIE FINGERS:

Pete Briquette's cousin, Johnnie - real name John Moylett - famously wore striped pyjamas in concert as The Boomtown Rats' keyboard player.

Following the band's split in 1986, he formed an act called Gung-Ho before moving to Japan and working as a writer and producer with local stars.

Fingers went on to become a founding figure in the Fuji Rock Festival, now the largest of its kind in Japan.

A resident of Tokyo with wife Yoko and their two children, he says he "never thinks about" making new Boomtown Rats records.

SIMON CROWE:

The Boomtown Rats' drummer, 55, enjoyed 18 hit singles with the band during its heyday.

After Band Aid - and a performance at the Live Aid concert - Crowe left mainstream music to live in Devon, working variously as a freelance architect and clockmaker.

Crowe was among the former Rats to lodge an ongoing legal action in 2005 against Geldof for their alleged share of band royalties.

The father-of-two now lives in Devon and plays in pubs and clubs with folk act Jiggerpipery, and is performing with a reformed version of the Boomtown Rats around the UK next month (DEC).

CULTURE CLUB

BOY GEORGE:

CULTURE - Boy George

Culture Club's colourful front man - real name George O'Dowd - has enjoyed more mixed fortune than most of the Band Aid crop.

In 1986, he was arrested for possessing heroin, marking a long battle with addiction. He became a club DJ in the late 90s and went on to write the musical Taboo. George was released from prison this May after a 15-month sentence for falsely imprisoning a rent boy.

JON MOSS:

Culture Club's drummer - born Jonathan Aubrey Moss - was Boy George's gay lover, and also a chronic heroin addict.

The 52-year-old musician - who after his affair with George had three kids with wife Barbara - followed the act's break up in 1986 with stints playing in bands London, The Nipple Erectors, and The Damned.

In 1989, under the name Rubberman, he started releasing dance music before joining a succession of acts as a jobbing session drummer.

He was part of an eventual Culture Club reformation in 1998 which led to a major tour and 1999 studio album Don't Mind If I Do.

In July 2005, Moss played drums on the charity single "People I Don't Know Are Trying to Kill Me" to help families of 7/7 bombing victims.

Now living in Hampstead, north West London, he is still performing.

He has said: "If you're a drummer, you have to be in a band."

MARILYN:

Jamaica-born Marilyn - real name Peter Robinson - can count 1984's Band Aid as the pinnacle of his career.

The eighties gender bender, now 47 and retired from entertainment, released his debut album Despite Straight Lines the following summer - but it was a commercial flop.

In 1986, he appeared at Marylebone Magistrates' Court in London with Boy George's brother Kevin O'Dowd, charged with possessing heroin.

It marked his descent into a dire struggle with drugs and - along with the passing of the New Romantic music era - his career never recovered

Rossdale has since insisted the two were merely good friends.

Marilyn is now celibate and lives with his 76-year-old mum in a scruffy Hertfordshire semi.

Any fortune is now long gone - in 2007 he even asked fans on his MySpace page to send him money for a new computer.

U2

ADAM CLAYTON:

Became a bona fide rock God bass player with U2, selling a staggering 145million albums worldwide.

The 49-year-old once dated Naomi Campbell and is now the only bachelor of the group. He lives between homes in New York and Dublin and has a fortune estimated at £100m.

BONO:

U2 - Frontman Bono

U2's front man - real name Paul Hewson - was awarded an honorary knighthood in 2007 and is still making headlines for political statements as well as music.

He lives in Killiney in County Dublin with his four children and wife Ali. With U2 Bono, 49, has won 22 Grammy Awards. In 2002 he was named one of the 100 greatest Britons, despite being Irish. He's worth around £100m.

SPANDAU BALLET

STEVE NORMAN:

Spandau Ballet's sax player, 49, enjoyed global success with the band throughout the 80s, performing at both Live Aid and the Free Nelson Mandela Concert of 1988.

He put a £400,000 failed legal wrangle over royalties with Gary Kemp behind him to retake his place in the reformed 2009 line up. A dad-of-two, he lives in London.

TONY HADLEY:

Gold singer Tony Hadley, 49, pursued a solo career when Spandau Ballet split for the first time in 1990 after 11 years together.

The 6'4" dad-of-four rejuvenated his career by winning reality show Reborn in the USA in 2003 and re-released his solo work on a wave of Spandau nostalgia.

He now lives in Muswell Hill, north London, with second wife Alison - when not fronting the re-united band.

MARTIN KEMP:

SPANDAU BALLET - Martin Kemp

The 48-year-old Spandau Ballet bass player turned to acting when the band split in 1990, achieving acclaim in The Krays and then taking the part of EastEnders' villain Steve Owen.

A successful Hollywood career was cut short by two benign brain tumours in 1995.

He now lives in his native Islington, North London, with former pop star wife Shirlie Holliman and their two children.

GARY KEMP:

Band songwriter Gary, 50, joined his brother in The Krays title roles but returned to music in 1995, releasing solo album Little Bruises.

In 1999 he defended - and won - a legal action brought by former Spandau Ballet bandmates Tony Hadley, Steve Norman and John Keeble over £400,000 royalties.

The dad-of-three married for the second time in 2003. He lives in West London.

JOHN KEEBLE:

When Spandau Ballet split the 50-year-old drummer worked with bands including 69 Daze and The Herbs, also touring with the Tony Hadley band

He lives in North West London with wife flea and daughter Jaime.

FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD

HOLLY JOHNSON:

The iconic Relax singer, 49, turned to painting in the mid 90s and has exhibited work at the Tate Liverpool and The Royal Academy.

He temporarily withdrew from public life In November 1991 when he was diagnosed HIV positive but returned with a critically acclaimed autobiography in 1994, releasing his last album Slipstream in 1999.

DAVID BOWIE:

LEGEND - David Bowie

Now in his fifth decade as an artist Bowie, 62, was one of the biggest stars of both Band Aid and Live Aid - which featured a specially recorded duet with Mick Jagger of "Dancing in the Streets".

He now divides his time between London and New York and is still recording and - occasionally - acting. Bowie married Somalian supermodel Iman in 1992 and is worth around £100m.

BANANARAMA

SARA DALLIN:

Bananarama are still in the Guinness Book of Records as the all girl group with the highest number of chart entries.

Dallin, 47, was a founder of the trio in 1979 and went on to marry the band's former dancer, Bassey Walker. The couple had a daughter in 1991 but are now separated.

Dallin is still in the band with Keren Woodward and as a duo Bananarama released their latest album, Viva in September of this year.

KEREN WOODWARD:

Bananarama's co-founder, 48, lives in Cornwall with former Wham star Andrew Ridgley. She is credited as the driving force behind the Bananarama phenomenon of the 80s.

Woodward has a 23-year-old son - and is still recording with the band.

SIOBHAN FAHEY:

Fahey left Bananarama in 1988 to form Shakespeare's Sister. In 1987, the 51-year-old married Eurythmics' guitarist Dave Stewart in Normandy.

The couple split in 1996, and have two teenage sons. Despite rejoining her former Bananarama band members in 2002 for a final reunion, Fahey has continued writing and recording as a solo artist. She is based in London and is recording again as Shakespeare's Sister.

KOOL & THE GANG

JAMES "JT" TAYLOR:

Taylor, 56, was the former schoolteacher who became lead vocalist on some of the Gang's best-known tracks, including the celebrated "Joanna."

He left in 1988 to pursue a solo career - releasing four solo albums - but returned in

1995 for the Gang's marathon reunion tour, which rolled on for four years.

Just last year last year, he released the single "Winner" in support of Barack Obama's presidential candidacy.

Today, Taylor calls Detroit, Michigan, home. He is also working on a new solo album.

RONALD 'KOOL' BELL:

Bell, 59, was founder of Kool & The Gang and continued with the band after Taylor's departure, although never returned to the multi platinum successes of the 70s and 80s.

Most of the original line up came together to release the album "Still Kool" in 2007. Bell continues to write and record in his native New Jersey, collaborating with Timbaland on his 2007 album 'Timbaland Presents Shock Value'.

Kool and the Gang were the only US act to perform in the Band Aid line up.

DENNIS "DT" THOMAS:

Thomas, 57, was a self-taught saxophonist who gave Kool & the Gang their distinctive mellow sound. His daughter, actress Michelle Thomas starred in The Cosby Show before succumbing to cancer in 1998. Thomas now lives in Montclair, New Jersey.

STATUS QUO

FRANCIS ROSSI:

Charismatic front man Rossi was given the moniker 'doctor' for the large bag of cocaine dispensed during the Band Aid recording.

BINGE - Rockers Status Quo

He recalled: "I remember Marilyn kept going past everybody and going into the ladies loo. We messed about and made as much fun out of it as we could."

Rossi infamously confessed to finding a hole in his nose after his cocaine binges throughout the 70s and 80s.

Now 60 and - despite a £2,5000 hair transplant - a little thinner on top he is still rockin' all over the world in his trademark blue jeans.

Quo performed at Glastonbury this year and have sold more than 118million records.

Rossi lives in Surrey

RICK PARFITT:

Parfitt, 61, vividly recalled the chaos wrought on Band Aid by the cocaine supplied by him and Rossi.

He said: "I was doing too many drugs at the time to be able to sing - when we went down to the recording session it was mayhem.

"There was a lot of booze and there were a lot of allsorts flying about. I was after the allsorts. We ended up kicking a door down in the toilet."

The rhythm guitarist - who has always spoken candidly of his rock 'n' roll excesses -admitted the band's cocaine and booze consumption was costing "two or three grand a week".

Eight months after Band Aid was recorded, the Quo opened Live Aid at Wembley, but Parfitt says the drugs left him unable to recall much of the event.

Three-time-married - most recently in 2006 - Parfitt became father to twins in 2008, and now divides his time between Malaga and London.

BIG COUNTRY

STUART ADAMSON:

Scottish four-piece Big Country's singer committed suicide seventeen years after Band Aid following a battle with alcoholism.

The band - who MISSED the big day due to other recording commitments but featured with a message on the B-side - separated briefly when Adamson left for Nashville, Tennessee, in the 98 to form country act The Raphaels.

But even the success of a reunion tour in 2000 was not enough to help Adamson from drink-related depression.

He went missing in November 2001, and was found hanged weeks later in a Honolulu hotel room aged just 43.

BRUCE WATSON:

Canadian-born guitarist Watson, 48, toured and recorded with former Marillion singer Fish in the 90s after Big Country's break up.

Of Band Aid, he recalled: "We were in Hamburg, on the Steeltown tour, when Bob got in touch.

"Steeltown was number one at the time and it was impossible for us to come back to do the single because of touring commitments.

"So we recorded a message for the B-side backstage in a dressing room.

"We just hired in some recording gear - it was just a good luck thing. They wanted us to say 'Feed The World' as I recall."

Watson took over vocals after Adamson's death, and the three remaining band members reunited in 2007 for a tour of Britain and a one-off date in Cologne.

Watson still performs with his son Jamie, releasing album "The Portastudio Diaries" earlier this year. The duo will be performing with the Skids, formerly a band of Adamson's, in Glasgow at the end of November.

TONY BUTLER:

Londoner Butler, 52, was Big Country's bass. He is now a music teacher, based in North Devon, but works in colleges across the country.

Big Country was finally disbanded in 2008.

MARK BRZEZICKI:

The 52-year-old left Big Country in 1989, but returned to drumming duties with the band in 1993.

The son of Anglo-Polish parents, Brzezicki also went on to play with Procul Harum and then founded Casbah Club in 2004 with Bruce Foxton, formerly of The Jam, and Simon Townshend, brother of Who legend, Pete.

They supported the Who in 2006. In his most recent public appearance last month, he played with rockers The Cult at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

STING:

POLICE - Sting

Spiky haired Sting - real name Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner - emerged from Band Aid as a legend of British music.

Now 58, he has16 Grammy Awards, an estimated personal fortune of £180m and sold more than 50 million records with The Police.

After Band Aid, Sting became devoted to charitable campaigns, famously to save parts of the South American rainforest.

He is married to actress and film producer Trudie Styler. They have four children and divide their time between homes in London, Salisbury, Malibu and New York.

The Police reformed from 2007 until 2009 for a major reunion tour. Sting has just released his latest solo album called If On A Winter's Night.

SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY:

Sir Paul, 67, is simply the most successful singer songwriter in the history of pop music with more than 60 gold discs and over 100 million singles sold worldwide.

The former Beatle also played on the 2004 reprisal of Band Aid.

Knighted in 1997 for services to music, shortly before the death from cancer of wife Linda, he went on to marry - and then controversially divorce - Heather Mills.

With a fortune estimated at £440 million, dad-of-five Sir Paul - alias Macca - lives in Sussex, London and New York and is dating US socialite Nancy Shevell.

DURAN DURAN

JOHN TAYLOR:

The Duran Duran bassist, 49, left the band in 1997 to go solo, and has since released five albums.

John also pursued an acting career, and in 1999 had the lead role in the independent film Sugar Town. He has since appeared in six films in minor roles.

In 2000, Duran Duran reformed, and last year he took part in a world tour with them.

He lives in London with his wife of ten years, Gela Nash the co-founder of Juicy Couture fashion label.

SIMON LE BON:

STAR - Simon Le Bon

The Duran Duran singer, 51, has been in the band since its creation, and has sold more than 100million records worldwide with them.

He has also dabbled in solo outings, contributing vocals to a number of singles including the track Follow In My Footsteps with The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs.

He has been married to his model wife Yasmin for 24-years, and they have three children.

They live in Knightsbridge, London.

ROGER TAYLOR:

Duran Duran drummer Roger, 49, was the first member of the band to quit following Band Aid, leaving in 1985.

Burned out and exhausted, Roger retired to the Gloucestershire countryside with his wife Giovanna, and had three children.

They divorced in 2005. He is now married to Gisella Bernales.

Roger rejoined Duran Duran in 2001.

ANDY TAYLOR:

The Duran Duran guitarist, 48, left the band to go solo, and open a wine bar in Whitley Bay, named Rio.

He also invested his royalties from his time with the band into real estate.

In 2001 he reunited with Duran Duran to record the album Astronaut, but in 2006 he departed the band for a second time.

Last year he released the solo album, The Underdog Has Landed. He lives in London, with wife Tracey, and their four children.

NICK RHODES:

Duran Duran keyboardist Nick, 47, has been with the band since its creation in 1978.

He has sold over 100million records worldwide with the band, and has released albums with Duran Duran side-project Arcadia, as well as an album with The Devils in 2002.

In 1999 he had a small guest appearance as a Canadian bomber pilot in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

He has one daughter, Tatjana, 23, from his marriage to Julie Anne Friedman, and lives in London.

WHAM

GEORGE MICHAEL:

WHAM - George Michael

The Wham singer, 46, went solo in 1987, and has since released eight albums.

He has won two Grammy awards, and is worth £70million, having sold more than 100million records.

The singer was arrested in 1998 for "engaging in a lewd act" in a Californian public toilet, and in 2006 he was also arrested for possession of Class C drugs, and was cautioned.

Later that same year he was found unconscious at the wheel of his Mercedes, and cautioned for the possession of cannabis.

Next month George will release the single December Song, and make an appearance on ITV show X Factor.

He has been with his partner Kenny Goss since 1996, and they split their time between London and Los Angeles.

PAUL YOUNG:

The 53-year-old singer had more lines on Do They Know It's Christmas than any other artist.

But despite a US number one with Every Time You Go Away in 1985, his career went into decline shortly after, exacerbated by health problems with his throat.

In 2006 he appeared on BBC1 show Celebrity Masterchef, and in 2007 on ITV's Hell's Kitchen.

He lives in Hertfordshire with his model wife, Stacey, and three children. They split in 2006 after twenty years of marriage but reconciled in March this year.

He plans to release a new album in 2010.

MIDGE URE:

The Ultravox frontman, 56, went solo after co-writing and producing the Band Aid single with Bob Geldof.

He continued to help the developing world with Live Aid in 1986 and Live Eight in 2005.

Ambassador for Save The Children, in 2005 he was made an OBE for his services to charity and music.

He reformed Ultravox this year for a UK tour and performance at the Isle of Wight Festival.

He lives in Bath.

PHIL COLLINS:

GENESIS - Phil Collins

Ex-Genesis drummer Phil, 58, went solo in 1996, selling more than 100million records worldwide and has an estimated wealth of £160million.

Phil, who lives in Switzerland, divorced his third wife, Orianne Cevey last year, and was made to pay out a £25m settlement to her.

He has five children from his three marriages.

CHRIS CROSS:

Following the demise of Ultravox in 1988, the bass guitarist, 57 - real name Christopher Allen - became a psychotherapist and mental health counsellor in Reading, Berkshire, where he lives.

In November 2008 Chris and Ultravox members Warren Cann, Billy Currie and Midge Ure announced that they would be reforming, and they toured the UK in April this year.

The tour was so successful that Chris and the rest of the band extended their tour to Germany and Belgium, and they released a Best of Ultravox CD/DVD with EMI in May.

GLENN GREGORY:

Heaven 17's lead singer, Glenn, 51, has occasionally reformed with the band to record and perform since 1990.

The band have released eight studio albums, their most recent Naked As Advertised, last year.

Outside of the band, Glenn has worked with John Lydon, Grace Jones and Tina Turner on solo material.

In 1997, he launched Honeyroot, a dance collaboration with Keith Lowndes, penning the album Skyscraping that year, and later releasing the album Sound Echo Location in 2003.

Next month, Heaven 17 will be touring again and the band are set to collaborate with electro act La Roux for a live performance on BBC 6 Music Radio.

He lives in North London, with his make-up artist wife, and seven-year-old son.

PAUL WELLER:

The Style Council singer and guitarist Paul, 51, went solo and has sold over 15million albums.

He was awarded a BRIT Award for Best Male Solo Artist in February this year, and plans to release his tenth studio album

STYLE - Paul Weller

next year, Wake Up The Nation.

He lives in London with his girlfriend Hannah Andrews, 24, a background singer, who he had toured with.

JODY WATLEY:

Shalamar singer Jody, 50, went solo and had a number of hits, including A Night To Remember. She was awarded a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1987.

Jody has nine studio albums to her name, and has sold 20million albums worldwide.

Last year she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by Billboard Magazine.

In 1995 she formed her own independent record label Avitone Records, and then in 1998 she modelled for a partially nude six-page spread in the April issue of Playboy magazine.

She married her producer boyfriend Andre Cymone in 1985, but they divorced in 1986. They have two children, Lauren, and Arie.

Jody continues to record and tour. She lives in Los Angeles.

MARTYN WARE:

Heaven 17's co-founder, 53, continued to perform with the band, while working on solo projects.

In 1994 he produced Erasure's I Say I Say I Say album, and in 1999, Martyn collaborated with Vince Clarke of Depeche Mode as The Clarke and Ware Experiment, on the album Pretentious, and Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle in 2001.

In 1999 Martyn created a 3D surround sound auditorium for the National Centre for Popular Music in Sheffield, launched with £15million of National Lottery money.

He now spends his time coming up with special sounds for art exhibitions, and next month will tour with Heaven 17.

He lives in Primrose Hill, North West London, with his wife and two children.

LINDA RONSTADT:

The folk rock singer-songwriter and record producer, 63, has enjoyed a successful career, winning 10 Grammy Awards and an Emmy.

Linda has released 30 studio albums, sold over 60 million worldwide and was the first female in music history to score three consecutive platinum albums.

In 1985 she got engaged to Star Wars director George Lucas, but they later split. She has two adopted children, and lives in Arizona, USA.

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