YouTube Stars Join Bono, Ed Sheeran, Others To Record Band Aid 30 Song

Zoella, Alfie Deyes (aka Pointless Blog), and Joe Sugg (YouTube’s ThatcherJoe) are already familiar names in the online video world, but they’re about to be known in the music industry, too. The UK-based YouTube celebrities recently participated in a recording of the Band Aid 30 song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”

The trio of vloggers was invited by Sir Bob Geldof to join a larger group of English and Irish musicians known collectively as the charity supergroup Band Aid 30. The name honors the 1984 Band Aid, a collection of around 40 musicians who came together three decades ago to record the original version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Band Aid’s initial goal was to help combat poverty in Africa, so this year, Band Aid 30’s aims to sell the re-recorded single to raise money to combat the Ebola crisis.

Zoella, Deyes, and Sugg joined some of the biggest British names in music to record the classic Christmas song, including Bono, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Ellie Goulding, Rita Ora, One Direction, Emeli Sande, Sam Smith, Bastille, and Ed Sheeran (many of whom cancelled prior commitments to participate). The three YouTube stars felt honored to help with such an important cause, regardless of whether or not they were “real” singers.

“If you were asked to help raise awareness and money for Ebola by Bob Geldof would you seriously say no?” tweeted Zoella to a fan who questioned her involvement with the project. Deyes also expressed his surprise about being asked to join Band Aid 30 in a video he filmed hours before the YouTubers recorded the song:

However, he later tweeted about how “surreal” his day had been and how grateful he was to be a part of the project:

Sugg also expressed his gratitude in a tweet after the recording:

The three YouTube vloggers only sang in the choir, but they became the first non-musicians to take part in the Band Aid movement. Zoella, Deyes, and Sugg’s involvement will hopefully help younger generations realize they can make a difference in the world.

And if their followers are as dedicated as they seem, the trio of vloggers may be able to raise a substantial amount of funds to fight Ebola (despite today’s streaming-obsessed culture). According to New Media Rockstars, Band Aid 30’s version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” won’t appear on Spotify until after the holidays to encourage listeners to purchase the track instead of just streaming it for free (or downloading it illegally).

Fortunately, Band Aid 30’s charity work is off to a good start. The group’s song debuted on the UK’s X Factor on November 17, 2014, and has already made £1 million, according to the Independent. The original Band Aid recording raised over £8 million for poverty.

Want to help Zoella, Deyes, Sugg, and the UK musicians beat the old record? You can purchase “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” for $1.29 on Google Play or from iTunes. All proceeds will go to the UK’s Band Aid trust to fight Ebola.