Music stars unite to sing on $5m charity single

Scribe will perform in a World Vision concert.

Some of the world's biggest music stars are joining forces to release a charity single they hope will raise more than £2 million ($5.43 million) for the tsunami relief fund.

And Kiwi hip-hop artist Scribe will join Australian performers for a fundraising concert at the Sydney Opera House.

The single, titled Grief Never Grows Old, will feature Sir Cliff Richard, Boy George and opera singer Russell Watson.

Ronan Keating will also take part, providing a recording studio can be found near where he is skiing in Switzerland.

Other stars being approached include Jamie Cullum, Bee Gees Robin and Barry Gibb, Chris Rea and Olivia Newton-John.

Broadcaster Mike Read, who is leading the One World project, had written the song before the natural disaster struck on Boxing Day, but until then had thought it was too melancholy to release.

"It's a natural home for it because people kept saying to me, 'It's such a good song, but it's such a sad song'."

Read said the track was not a "singalong" in the style of Band Aid 20 but a slow ballad which did not need more than 10 artists.

The backing track has already been laid down and it is hoped recording can be finished within a week to get the single on the shelves as soon as possible.

Sir Cliff will record his part in Barbados, while Boy George will sing from New York.

Read approached the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which is co-ordinating the British relief effort, with the idea the day after Boxing Day.

"I was totally shocked at the enormity and suddenness of the disaster and in tears on seeing the orphaned children wandering aimlessly in search of their parents," he said.

 

The artists he had spoken to had been "fantastic" in their enthusiasm.

Read said he was not concerned whether the track topped the charts, only that it made a lot of money. "I'd only be pleased in terms of what it meant for sales if it got to No 1," he added.

All funds raised by the single will go to the DEC.

In Sydney, World Vision will get a boost to its fundraising next weekend when some big-name bands and musicians perform.

Killing Heidi, The Whitlams, and Australian Idol stars Anthony Callea and Casey Donovan will join Spiderbait, Noiseworks, Eskimo Joe and Scribe at a "reach out" concert.

Hosted by Channel Seven, the concert will be held on the steps of the Opera House and proceeds from the 4000 ticket sales - each costing A$25 ($27.40) - will be donated to the Christian Aid organisation.

As 2004 came to an end, Australians had donated about US$36 million ($49 million) to aid groups helping assist the injured, the homeless, the starving and the sick across 10 Asian nations.

But Community Aid Abroad Oxfam Australia alone received A$1.12 million ($1.2 million) from New Year's Eve revellers across the country, bringing their total fundraising amount to about A$6.5 million.

- AAP