Bob Geldof emotionally paid tribute to Liam Payne as he debuted the latest version of the Band Aid charity single Do They Know It's Christmas? on Monday.
The Band Aid organiser appeared on The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2 on Monday morning to premiere the ultimate mix of the song, which combines the vocals of the 1984 original as well as Band Aid 20 and 30.
After the track had its U.K. radio debut, Zoe and Bob both sounded emotional as she considered the late musicians who can be heard on the song, such as Sinéad O'Connor and David Bowie.
"I know Bob, we've both had a cry," Zoe said. "It is that thing, there are so many people involved in that who perhaps aren't with us anymore and this time of year we always think of those."
The Boomtown Rats star replied, "Liam, I mean, I was thinking about it at the funeral and I just thought well he's here, he's here with his mates, he's alive with us. He's doing it for others."
Zoe added, "His voice lives on in his music. It is beautiful."
Liam, who appeared on the 2014 version with his One Direction bandmates, passed away in October after falling from the balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 31-year-old was laid to rest at a private funeral in Buckinghamshire last week.
The ultimate mix of Do They Know It's Christmas? features different music, tweaked lyrics and a wide variety of artists, from Bono to Dizzee Rascal.
While the 40th anniversary version has received mixed reviews online, Bob told Zoe he thought it was "a work of art" and "one of the greatest (pieces of) production art that has ever been done in British rock and roll".
He added that Bono - who appears on three iterations of the song - text him that morning to say he's "so proud of what we did".
However, Ed Sheeran does not feel the same way, as he recently revealed that he would have denied permission to use his vocals for the new version as his perspective on the song's narrative has changed.
Bob recently responded to the criticism that his single perpetuates harmful stereotypes of Africa, telling The Times over the weekend, "This little pop song has kept millions of people alive. Why would Band Aid scrap feeding thousands of children dependent on us for a meal?
