Just a day after a who’s who of artists gathered in Los Angeles to record an anniversary edition of “We are the World,” lo and behold, across the pond, former American Idol judge Simon Cowell has released a British remake of REM’s “Everybody Hurts” to raise money for Haitian relief.
The single, performed by Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, Rod Stewart, Jon Bon Jovi, Michael Bublé, Susan Boyle, Kylie Minogue, Leona Lewis and James Blunt, among others, will be available for download as of this Sunday. Proceeds will be split between the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee and the Helping Haiti Campaign. Check out Tonic’s exclusive inside scoop courtesy of Josh Groban, then listen to the recording below, from Rolling Stone:
What’s that you say? A little history repeating? Why yes! It is more than just a little reminiscent of the battle of the bands circa 1984-5.
It was back in November of 1984 when Bob Geldof and Midge Ure penned the single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Geldof pulled together a group of the era’s most popular British recording artists (including Duran Duran, Culture Club, George Michael, Sting, Bono and Phil Collins, among others) to record the song and called them Band Aid. The song stayed at number one for five weeks, selling more than 3.5 million copies in the UK alone.
Of course, the United States couldn’t just sit idly by. Within weeks, the now-famous single “We Are the World,” written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, was being recorded by the two songwriters and a who’s who of the US music scene, including Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Willie Nelson and Bruce Springsteen, among others.
The song was released in March of that year and quickly became a worldwide success, topping music charts and going multi-platinum. Since then, it has sold more than 20 million copies and raised over $63 million for humanitarian aid in Africa and the US.
So, a little healthy battle of the bands can go a long way in provided much-needed aid. And dare we say it’s about time! Twenty-five years is a long time to wait for some outpouring of love for those in need from our favorite rock and rollers. Let’s hope this year’s effort achieves the same degree of success of that first one, way back when. (Oh, and cheers to the fact that none of us has teased hair or should pads for this one!)
Check out some footage of the recording session in Los Angeles below, thanks to MTV. Which recording do you prefer?
Photo courtesy of wiki edit Jonny via Wikimedia Commons.
