Cowell lines up Haiti single

Rod Stewart, Leona Lewis and JLS to sing 'Everybody Hurts'...

14:43 22 January 2010

Rod Stewart, Leona Lewis, JLS and Michael Buble have all agreed to take part in the Haiti charity single, which has been put together by music mogul Simon Cowell.

More are thought to be joining the lineup which will record a cover of REM's ballad 'Everybody Hurts' which originally released on the band's 1992 album 'Automatic for the People'.

The Sun newspaper, which has teamed up with Cowell, said Robbie Williams, Coldplay, Take That and Sir Paul McCartney have also been approached but are not as yet confirmed.

Cowell said: "We are all working hard to make this single a success and to raise lots of money for Helping Haiti.

"We have a short time to do this and the people in Haiti need as much help as we can give them as soon as possible."

He added: "I'd like to make this record with as many different types of singer as we can and I hope everyone in the industry comes together to get involved. The initial response has been fantastic."

Sony have donated free studio time for the track and Prime Minister Gordon Brown has confirmed that the single will be on sale free of VAT.

The money from the single will be split between the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and the Sun's Helping Haiti campaign.

Meanwhile, a global telethon is also being launched, which sees stars like Madonna and Beyonce perform while top stars like Clint Eastwood man the phones.

MTV and George Clooney are producing the benefit show, entitled 'Hope for Haiti Now' which will air commercial-free across numerous American TV networks. It will also be streamed globally.

In the UK, the will be shown live on MTV from 0100 GMT on Saturday January 23, and repeated at 0900 GMT the same day.

Other acts taking part in the telethon include U2's Bono and The Edge, Jay-Z and Rihanna, who will all be performing together in London.

Wyclef Jean, who is a Haitian-American, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J Blige, Shakira and Sting will perform in New York.

Speaking to MTV, Clooney said: "It's a big world out there, and we all have a lot of responsibility to look out for people who can't look out for themselves.

"So what we can do is first and foremost, raise money. If I thought we could all pick up shovels and go in there and help without being in the way, I think a lot of people would do that."