It has shot to No 1 on website Amazon's pre-release chart.

And high street retailer HMV has been inundated with requests for it.

The cover of REM's Everybody Hurts is set to sell more than a MILLION copies when it is issued on Sunday.

HMV spokesperson Gennaro Castaldo said: "Thanks to The Sun's campaign a huge support is building.

You can pre-order The Sun's Helping Haiti song Everybody Hurts by clicking here - and listen to a preview clip below...

"This single will dominate the charts in the weeks ahead as the biggest release of the past ten years."

And the man responsible for iconic music videos from Britney Spears, U2 and Eminem has joined the campaign.

Director Joseph Kahn will shoot the clip to accompany our song, performed by stars including Susan Boyle, Robbie Williams and Mariah Carey.

ALL proceeds of The Sun's Helping Haiti Appeal will go directly to a charitable fund set up by the Charities Aid Foundation (registered charity number 268369).

All money will go to charities helping Haiti earthquake victims.

Proceeds from sales of the single will be split equally between Disasters Emergency Committee and The Sun's Helping Haiti Appeal.

The DEC last night said its quake appeal has raised Ј70million. And Haiti said 200,000 dead have been identified, with another 300,000 injured - including 4,000 amputee victims.

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol....XgimGqK

There are benefits, such as increased public awareness, and a sense of communal effort - and drawbacks - in that it's a bit ripe being encouraged to donate by a moneybags like Simon Cowell. Or Bono and the Edge and Jay-Z and Rihanna. Or Quincy Jones.

All of which generates the kind of moral maze that bloggers and Twitterers LIVE for. Everyone's got an opinion, my friends, and here's mine...

Listening to 'Everybody Hurts', I find I'm basically in total agreement with all the horrified people complaining that it's the wrong song. This is not because the original is an untouchable classic of modern music - it is to ME, but when I remember what it is now being used for, I find I can't really bring myself to care that much.

It's more that the situation in Haiti is not a good example of everybody hurting, or the effects of not letting yourself go when the night is yours alone. It's a damn near perfect example of thousands and thousands of people's lives being torn to shreds by a dreadful event, and them needing actual physical help from anyone who can possibly offer it.

However, I'm also reminded of Winston Churchill's quote about democracy, in which he said this:

"It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried."

And that's the problem. 'Everybody Hurts' is the worst song they could've chosen, except for all the other songs which are available.

What song could hope to bypass the honking awkwardness of incredibly rich, talented people attempting to encourage other, less rich people to pay them to sing, on behalf of a ridiculously rich impresario, acting on the instructions of his country's Prime Minister (with a massive treasury), in order to raise funds to aid people who have NOTHING.

I've never heard that song. And I listen to a LOT of songs.

I've never heard a song which essentially says "I cannot begin to understand this on a human level. It's too big, and churns up too many emotions that I can't process - love, empathy, anger, fear. In fact I'm sitting here boiling in my own impotence, knowing that I can't come over there with a big broom and my enormous wallet and help clear this mess up."

And that's just the first verse. The chorus would have to go: "Look, this singing thing is just A way to raise money, it's not the sum total of everything we as a nation can do to help. Plenty of people aren't even going to buy it, because they have already donated or are raising money themselves, and I think we all know that this is fine. I just want you to know that we're trying."

Even those "I'll be there for you when the rain starts to fall" kind of songs like 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', 'Lean On Me' or 'You've Got A Friend' sound trite and horribly insincere when you think about the people who are doing the asking. They all contain lines which, in this new context, are crass and self-serving, like the bit in 'Lean On Me' where Bill Withers sings "it won't be long till I'm gonna need somebody to lean on".

Perfectly fine in a song of friendship and empathy at any other time. Pretty insulting to a Haitian in 2010, if sung to him by the millionaire Rod Stewart. Do you see?

So, I guess what I'm getting at is this. Buy the song, don't buy the song, donate, don't donate (actually, strike that last one. DO donate), just PLEASE get off the moral high ground about how badly music is being treated in this sort of situation.

It is, and I really can't stress this enough, MISSING THE POINT.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs....n.shtml

Tony Cowell interviewed stars including Susan Boyle, Mika and James Morrison - as well his own brother - for a radio documentary during the recording in London.

People can download it or just listen in return for a donation of around £1.

The song, a cover of REM's Everybody Hurts, includes vocals from Leona Lewis, Rod Stewart and Kylie Minogue.

Tony said of his docu: "I saw on TV how radio stations were giving out vital information and how the US military were giving out wind-up radios to victims.

"But it's not only that public service function that's so important, as we know radio entertains too."

During Tony's interview, his brother Simon told him: "I didn't think twice about this song actually. It immediately felt like the right song to do and we didn't consider anything else.

"The lyric just seemed appropriate. It's a beautiful song, so it just chose itself really."

Meanwhile, Boyle said she felt "honoured" to take part.

She said: "It's such a terrible thing to have happened I would've been moved to have done something about it anyway because that's my nature."
http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs....2021739

This is where you can donate and download for broadcast Tony Cowell's special Haiti charity single report.

The single is a cover of R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" with international stars including Mariah Carey, Susan Boyle, Mika, Jon Bon Jovi, Rod Stewart, Leona Lewis and many others.

It will be released for CD sales in the UK on Friday 5th February and in the US on Sunday 7th February 2010, internet sales start a little bit earlier. It's expected to go straight to number 1 in the UK Singles charts.

In this package, you'll get exclusive interviews with Simon Cowell, Susan Boyle, Mika and others...

We will list you on these pages as donor. Please do not distribute the raw file - ask other stations and programmes to donate first...We're asking for a minimum donation of 100 USD (+ $17.50 in UK tax - sorry) - please feel free to give more (the second PayPal button gives you the option to add the amount you'd like to give)....If you are a group or representing multiple stations, please donate for each outlet. For internet radio stations or blogs who would like to download and use the piece, please also donate. Please tell us how you use the piece....

If you just want to listen to the piece and won't broadcast it...please click here and donate a $1 (US dollar)...

In the interests of transparancy and to explain why these are Buy and not Donate PayPal buttons, we are going to donate the funds directly according to the needs of local radio stations in Haiti and as there is no charity we've found doing this at the moment, we don't fit into the PayPal Donation criteria...hope that's OK.

The funds we generate will be distributed to a radio station/s in Haiti to help them get back on their feet and do the all important job of passing on vital information and helping their audiences get through the day.We will work with the UN and other organisations to identify the stations and what they need...we're planing to buy them equipment and give training.

We'll let you all know what we do and will also publish the details on these pages.You can check it all out as it develops.

Please push this link (www.grnlive.com/haiti.htm) out to anybody you think might be interested in using this report...
http://www.grnlive.com/haiti.htm