Sir Bob Geldof speaks to Lorraine

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Sir Bob Geldof speaks to Lorraine

Being on stage is entirely cathartic

I'm walking down the street and suddenly there's an awareness of her and I buckle

I liked being Peaches Geldof's dad

Our family is part of the national soap opera

Sir Bob Geldof spoke movingly to Lorraine this morning about the death of daughter Peaches, his marriage proposal to long term partner Jeanne Marine and going back on the road with the Boomtown Rats.

Speaking to Lorraine Kelly in his first TV interview since Peaches passed away nearly three months ago, the father of four told of the intolerable pain but said he is finding some peace in his music, saying; It's intolerable it's very hard as everybody must realise, especially if it happened to them too, and what else do you do, you get on with it.

He continued; I've always done that and being on stage is entirely cathartic, it just clears your head - just before we came on I was talking to one of your producers and the guy I work with doing telly and stuff and they were saying for years they have done yoga, and I can't get my head around that at all! But they say no, no, it's wonderful, you're chakra's are...' next! I just get on a stage and go mad and if I dwell on the words sometimes I find it hard to struggle through the song because they take on whole meanings that I never meant when I wrote them.

Speaking about the lyrics to the Boomtown Rat hit Diamond Smiles', the musician outlined how he sometimes now recognises his late, ex wife Paula Yates and daughter Peaches in the song words, saying; There's a song we had that was a big hit, [that] the Rats had called Diamond Smiles' - it was the one after I Don't Like Mondays', it was a very big hit and I was writing about a girl I read about in one of the papers, she was a socialite, and she went to a posh party, it was only a small item but it struck with me, and she went to a party and she went upstairs and hanged herself during the party. And it was a tiny little piece and I think that somebody said she was the brightest of diamonds' and I called the song Diamond Smiles. If I really think about those words and usually I'm in the zone of that song, if I really think about it, it's too bizarre, it's too telling whether it's about Paula or now whether it's about Peaches, and stuff like that But other than that you know, you're on stage and you're just going for it and you're so engaged in this moment, you're so aware of a crowd but not, you're aware of the band, but not, you're just lost in this moment, probably like the yoga thing that theyve been going on about. When I come of stage I am physically exhausted and mentally clear.

Managing his loss, Sir Bob told Lorraine of his default position to have things organised but he has found unexpected reminders of his daughter in his everyday life saying; You could be talking to somebody, you could be walking down the road, and I've got to be very careful because this is still very raw but I'm walking down the road and suddenly out of the blue there's an awareness of, her and you know, I buckle and I've got to be very careful because walking down the Kings Road there are Paps everywhere so I have to duck off into a lane or something, and blub for a while and then get on with it and that's it, so I'd imagine that will be there for a long time, I mean what else.

Talking about feeling overwhelmed by the letters of support from the public, Bob also spoke of his pride of his daughter and the impression she left behind, telling Lorraine; The nice thing about that was that this young girl had made such an impact, especially on her generation, when the Rat's got back together last year we went out on tour I don't do sound checks because they bore me to death - I was walking around Leeds and people would come up to me and say, You're Peaches Geldof's Dad aren't you' and I'd say yes' [laughs] but I liked it, I liked being Peaches Geldof's Dad

Looking forward to marrying long term partner Jeanne Marine, the 62 year old admitted that the engagement provided some light into the family saying; I love her to bits, she's amazing and I certainly would not have got through the last 20 years, there's just [shakes head] without her. She never hassled me or anything like that but you know, I'll do this thing and hey, how lucky she is! Let's face it! And then Peaches died and things were very bleak and there was I thought how do we move forward? I don't mean move on, as I say, time doesn't heal, it accommodates, it finds an available space in your brain and you can stick that part in there and it allows you to see things in context. And I didn't want to rush it or anything and I was going to do it anyway and I thought no, we need to let some air into the room, we need to let some light into that air. The wedding thing, if it happens it'll have to happen before we do this tour.

Before admitting that even if he will not sing at his wedding, he's hoping his wife-to-be will, telling Lorraine; I hope she does [sing at the wedding] because she has got an amazing voice. She was at Glastonbury with Jerry Hall, who's her great friend, our great friend, it'll be great but if it's not October it'll be next year, spring, there's no urgency.

Sir Bob went on to speak of his band of nearly 40 years, The Boomtown Rats, saying; I love it, particularly I love playing because it well I wouldn't do it if it wasn't a great band so you'll have to take that as a given. I think not only did I rediscover the Rats were a great band - you never get it as a kid, you just grow up with these guys and just form a band and that&

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