SXSW Music 2011 is pleased to announce Bob Geldof will be Keynote Speaker and Showcase Performer. At the end of last year, Bob Geldof was described as “one of Ireland’s greatest lyricists ever.” In a lifetime spent using rock music to change things, Geldof now comes to SXSW with his band to play music from his new album “How To Compose Popular Songs That Will Sell” and from his long, multi-award winning musical life. He will also be the keynote speaker on this SXSW 25th Anniversary which perfectly falls for this Irish legend — the man Bono calls “my big brother” – on March 17, St. Patricks Day.
Geldof began his life in music writing for Canada’s premier underground newspaper “The Georgia Straight” and the British “New Musical Express” and “Melody Maker.” Tiring of what music had become he began his own band the legendary Boomtown Rats, whose first record appeared alongside other classics on their first outing including The Ramones, Blondie, Patti Smith, Richard Hell, The Damned etc.