Late singer Liam Payne has been featured on the controversial 40th anniversary recording of Band Aid’s Do they Know It’s Christmas?

The charity song was originally released in 1984, with two newer recordings released in 2004 and 2014.

This fourth version has been touted by Bob Geldof, Midge Ure and producer Trevor Horn as an “ultimate mix” of the song.

Payne’s contribution to the song as part of One Direction, was recorded in 2014.

“Horn has taken these recordings and, through extraordinary music production techniques, blended all the voices of those separate generations into one seamless whole,” a press release announcing the song’s release said.

Speaking on the premiere of the song for the first time on BBC radio, Irish singer and Band Aid founder Bob Geldof appeared emotional when asked about Liam Payne’s part in the song.

Mr Geldof said on the song he is “alive with us” and “with his mates, doing this for others”.

Payne’s family has not commented on his voice being used in the song.

The song also has the vocals of Sinead O’Connor, who died in 2023, and David Bowie, who died in 2016.

Liam Payne, 31, died in October after he fell from the balcony of a hotel room in Buenos Aires.

The singer’s funeral was last week.

Argentine authorities have charged three people in connection with Payne’s death after an autopsy revealed traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system.

What’s the criticism of Do They Know It’s Christmas?

Do They Know It’s Christmas? was released a week after pop singer Ed Sheeran distanced himself from the song amid criticism it perpetuates negative stereotypes about Africa.

Ed Sheeran said he would not have given permission to be featured on the new release if asked.  (Reuters: Henry Nicholls )

Sheeran sang on the 2014 version of the song — with the producers using recordings from that project for the 2024 version.

But Sheeran says he didn’t give his approval to be on the new release.

Sheeran said that, if he had been asked to participate, he would have “respectfully declined”.

The song has since been released and his vocals are used.

He said his understanding of the narrative associated with the song had changed, pointing to an explanation by fellow musician Fuse ODG.

Fuse ODG said it perpetuated damaging stereotypes about Africa.

And he says this made people less likely to travel there or invest in African businesses.

“I know they might have gained sympathy and people would have donated their two pound a month, and they probably feel sorry for the continent and the people of Africa, but they would never go there, they would never invest in the continent,” he said in a video.

“It’s a campaign that dehumanises Africans and destroys our pride and identity in the name of ‘charity’,” he wrote in a post.

“[Geldof] has decided to release another version, which demonstrates how much he still has not learned from the points I made clear to him on the negative impact of his project on Africa and its diaspora.

“The white saviour complex is an incredibly dangerous thing which is now playing out on an individual and corporate level.”

Last week, the rapper released a song called We Know It’s Christmas, pledging the profits it generated would “go towards grassroots innovative projects that aim to better communities across Africa”.

The ABC has contacted managers for Geldof, Ure and Horn for comment.

We Know It’s Christmas by Fuse ODG

What’s the history of the song?

The song was originally recorded in 1984 to raise money to fight famine in Ethiopia.

It was recorded by the Band Aid supergroup of music stars assembled by Geldof and Ure.

Among the performers were big names including Bono, Phil Collins, Sting and George Michael.

It was then re-recorded in 1989, 2004 and 2014.

What has been said following the release?

Speaking to BBC’s news breakfast television program upon the song’s release, Fuse ODG reiterated his points made about the lyrics of the song.

“We need to be very weary about how we execute it [charity] because these images like there’s no peace and joy in Africa this Christmas, a place where nothing ever grows,” he said.

“As a child who’s now grown up in this era of images that Band Aid and initiatives like it have put up Africa as a place of poverty, famine, disease-filled it took away our collective sense of pride and identity.

“Ed Sheeran is allowing Africans to lead the conversation and I think that’s where Band Aid needs to start.”

Sheeran has not commented further on the song.

On November 26, during an appearance to promote the song on CNN This Morning in the US, Geldof said he stood by the release of the song.

He vowed to continue the work of Band Aid.