BOB GELDOF
Name: Bob Geldof
Birth name: Robert Frederick Xenon (or "Zenon") Geldof
Born: 5 October 1951 Dan Laoghaire, Dublin, Ireland
Robert Frederick Xenon Geldof, known as Bob Geldof (born 5 October
1951), is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and political activist.
Geldof was born in Dan Laoghaire, County Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland, to
Roman Catholic parents. His father, Robert, also known as Bob was the son of a
Belgian immigrant. At the age of 41 Geldof's mother Evelyn complained of a
headache and died shortly thereafter, having suffered a haemorrhage. He also has
two older sisters, Lynn and Cleo.
Geldof attended Blackrock College, near Dublin, a school whose staunch Catholic
ethos he disliked. After work as a slaughter man, 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 band The Boomtown Rats, a rock group closely
linked with the punk movement.
In the year of 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". 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.
Geldof quickly became known as a colourful spokesman 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.
Geldof's long-term partner and later wife was Paula Yates. Yates was a rock
journalist, presenter of the cutting-edge music show The Tube, and most
notorious for her in-bed interviews on the show The Big Breakfast. 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.
Before they married, the couple had a daughter, Fifi Trixibelle Geldof, born
March 31, 1983 (and while Geldof was still allegedly conducting an affair with
the young Claire King). After 10 years together, Bob and Paula married in June
1986 in Las Vegas with Simon Le Bon (of Duran Duran) acting as Geldof's best man.
The couple later had two more daughters, Peaches Honeyblossom Geldof on March 16,
1989, and Pixie Frou-Frou Geldof on September 17, 1990. Pixie is said to
be named after a celebrity daughter character from the cartoon Celeb in the
satirical magazine Private Eye, itself a lampoon of the unusual names the
Geldofs gave to their children. In 1994, Yates left Geldof for Michael Hutchence
(INXS), whom she met when she interviewed him on "The Big Breakfast". Geldof and
Yates divorced in May 1996 and Yates moved in with Hutchence. Yates and
Hutchence had a daughter, Heavenly Hiraana Tiger Lily, born July 22, 1996.
After Hutchence was found hanged in a hotel room in 1997, Geldof went to court
and obtained full custody of his three daughters and has since become an
outspoken advocate of fathers' rights. After Paula Yates's death from an
overdose in 2000, Geldof became the legal guardian of Tiger Lily Hutchence,
believing it best that she be raised with her three half-sisters. Geldof lives
in the Davington area of Faversham in Kent with his French actress girlfriend
Jeanne Marine.
Name: Bob Geldof
Birth name: Robert Frederick Xenon (or "Zenon") Geldof
Born: 5 October 1951 Dan Laoghaire, Dublin, Ireland
Robert Frederick Xenon Geldof, known as Bob Geldof (born 5 October
1951), is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and political activist.
Geldof was born in Dan Laoghaire, County Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland, to
Roman Catholic parents. His father, Robert, also known as Bob was the son of a
Belgian immigrant. At the age of 41 Geldof's mother Evelyn complained of a
headache and died shortly thereafter, having suffered a haemorrhage. He also has
two older sisters, Lynn and Cleo.
Geldof attended Blackrock College, near Dublin, a school whose staunch Catholic
ethos he disliked. After work as a slaughter man, 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 band The Boomtown Rats, a rock group closely
linked with the punk movement.
In the year of 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". 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.
Geldof quickly became known as a colourful spokesman 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.
Geldof's long-term partner and later wife was Paula Yates. Yates was a rock
journalist, presenter of the cutting-edge music show The Tube, and most
notorious for her in-bed interviews on the show The Big Breakfast. 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.
Before they married, the couple had a daughter, Fifi Trixibelle Geldof, born
March 31, 1983 (and while Geldof was still allegedly conducting an affair with
the young Claire King). After 10 years together, Bob and Paula married in June
1986 in Las Vegas with Simon Le Bon (of Duran Duran) acting as Geldof's best man.
The couple later had two more daughters, Peaches Honeyblossom Geldof on March 16,
1989, and Pixie Frou-Frou Geldof on September 17, 1990. Pixie is said to
be named after a celebrity daughter character from the cartoon Celeb in the
satirical magazine Private Eye, itself a lampoon of the unusual names the
Geldofs gave to their children. In 1994, Yates left Geldof for Michael Hutchence
(INXS), whom she met when she interviewed him on "The Big Breakfast". Geldof and
Yates divorced in May 1996 and Yates moved in with Hutchence. Yates and
Hutchence had a daughter, Heavenly Hiraana Tiger Lily, born July 22, 1996.
After Hutchence was found hanged in a hotel room in 1997, Geldof went to court
and obtained full custody of his three daughters and has since become an
outspoken advocate of fathers' rights. After Paula Yates's death from an
overdose in 2000, Geldof became the legal guardian of Tiger Lily Hutchence,
believing it best that she be raised with her three half-sisters. Geldof lives
in the Davington area of Faversham in Kent with his French actress girlfriend
Jeanne Marine.