Cowell’s Haiti single hits airwaves

LONDON – A new charity single for Haiti featuring Mariah Carey, Jon Bon Jovi, Susan Boyle and Robbie Williams hit the internet and airwaves on Tuesday.

The cover version of REM’s famous ballad ‘Everybody Hurts’ was hastily put together by TV personality and music producer Simon Cowell, who gathered more than 20 stars to raise funds for survivors of the earthquake that killed up to 200 000 people.The song will be available for download on Sunday and hit the shops the following day, according to the Sun newspaper, which teamed up with Cowell to promote the record.The song, recorded in London and Los Angeles, can already be ordered online at hmv.com, play.com, and amazon.co.uk, and the money raised goes to the Helping Haiti fund.Also singing are Rod Stewart, Michael Buble, Kylie Minogue and Cheryl Cole.It is one of several fundraising initiatives by the world of pop and film, and its launch coincides with news that Quincy Jones has overseen a new version of ‘We Are the World’ 25 years after the song raised awareness of famine in Africa.Some 70 stars lent their voices to the project, including Barbra Streisand, Kanye West and Miley Cyrus.Last month MTV hosted a telethon featuring George Clooney and U2’s Bono among others, which raised more than US$61 million, and the ‘Hope For Haiti Now’ charity album debuted at No 1 on the US pop chart last week. – Nampa-Reuters

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