January 22, 2010 10:41

REM's 'Everybody Hurts' chosen by Simon Cowell for Haiti charity single

Band are 'deeply touched' to have 1993 hit chosen

Photo: PA Photos

REM's 1993 single 'Everybody Hurts' has been chosen by Simon Cowell as his charity single to raise money for the Haiti earthquake appeal.

Paul McCartney, Coldplay, Take That and Robbie Williams are rumoured to feature on the single, which has received the backing of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who has said that VAT on the record will be waived to maximise revenues.

REM's manager Bertis Downs told The Sun that the band are waiving all royalties for the song, which is raising money for the Helping Haiti fund and the Disasters Emergency Committee.

"We are deeply touched the song has been chosen for this Haiti campaign," Downs said. "It means a lot that the song the guys wrote all those years ago will be used for such an important appeal."

Other acts expected to appear on the single, which being organised jointly by Cowell and The Sun, include N-Dubz, Leona Lewis, Will Young and Rod Stewart. The single will be released later this month, though no date has been confirmed yet.

Meanwhile, Florence And The Machine have also promised to donate proceedings from their gig at Sydney's Metro next Tuesday (January 26) to Helping Haiti.

U2's Bono and Jay-Z have recorded a Haiti earthquake appeal single too – although they have not announced its release details yet.