George Michael, Sting, ‘Band Aid 1984, Backstage’

© Brian Aris
London, U.K. 1984
Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity

‘When the famine in Ethiopia hit the headlines in Britain, Boomtown Rats singer Bob Geldof called me and said he had come up with an idea to raise money to aid the famine victims and asked if I would take the photographs to promote a single he was planning to make, entitled ‘Do They Know it’s Christmas’. Little did I realise when I arrived on November 25th 1984 at London Sarm West studios that I was about to find myself photographing a hastily assembled group of British superstars whoe were destined to make musical history. George Michael lined up alongside Sting, Bono, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Status Quo, Phil Collins, Paul Weller, Paul Young, Heaven 17, Midge Ure, Boy George and Bob Geldof for my group shot that would appear in publications all over the world and on the back of the iconic record sleeve designed by British Pop artist Peter Blake. By 1989 the single had sold 11.7 million copies and within a year of its release had raised £8 million for the charity, having become the fastest-selling single in the U.K. chart history.’ Brian Aris

‘I first met George in 1983 when he came to my studio with Andrew Ridgeley to be photographed as ‘Wham’. In an era when boy bands were destined to be successful, a due seemed very unliklely. Another Simon and Garfunkel? I doubted it. How wrong I was!’ Brian Aris

Brian Aris began his photographic career as a photojournalist, working for a London agency. A series of frontline assignments took him around the world covering various humanitarian crises from Northern Ireland and Lebanon to Palestine, Africa and Vietnam. He then decided on a complete change of direction and opened a studio in London where he started photographing fashion and glamour models for newspapers and magazines. Next he turned away from the model world to concentrate on the music industry that was exploding in Britain and gradually broadened his studio work to include pop and rock stars. 

Brian Aris has covered every aspect of the music scene from punk rock, glam’ rock and straight rock ‘n’ roll to the emergence of the boy bands and then the girl power. His photography has been on show at The National Portrait Gallery in London, the prestigious Recontres D’Arles exhibition in France, and at the Royal Circle of Art in Barcelona. His archive represents one of the largest individual collections in the United Kingdom.

National Portrait Gallery
The Times
Harpers Bazaar
Wall Street International Magazine
E.S.
Telegraph
Volta Cafe
King’s Road Rock
It’s Nice That
Culture24
Independent

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