Band Aid 30 song and music video to premiere on The X Factor results show this Sunday

Bob Geldof and Midge Ure are reviving their 1984 hit, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" to help fight Ebola in West Africa, and will be changing the lyrics to fit with the current crisis.

Many of pop music's biggest names are uniting for the song, including One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding, Sam Smith and Coldplay.

U2's Bono has also been confirmed for the track and will most likely be singing his famous (and somewhat morally dubious) line "Tonight thank God it's them, instead of you".

An official app will allow fans to follow the Band Aid 30 recording session live from Sarm Studios in London and the footage will help create the video.

The single will be available from iTunes at 8am on Monday 17 November, after the video airs on Simon Cowell's talent show the evening before.  To ensure that maximum funds are raised for charity, it will not be available to stream on Spotify until January.

Geldof confirmed the new version at a London press conference last week, during which he described Ebola as "a pernicious illness which renders people untouchable".

"This is the worst kept secret in the world," he said. "We will reconvene nearly 30 years to the day [of the first song's release].

"Three weeks ago I got a call from the UN saying they required a 20 per cent increase across the board. They are very concerned about the situation in West Africa.

"We called up some giants and they said they would come again to the party."

Geldof added that he and singer Midge Ure felt they had a duty to raise money with sales from the single, which will feature an album cover designed by Tracey Emin.

"[Ure] and I both feel, the Irishman and Scotsman, should gather the pop crow together again and do our thing," he said.

"It really doesn't matter if you hate this song or you don't like this song, you have to buy this thing."