Charity record

A charity record (also known as a charity single) is a release of a song for a specific charitable cause.

Ex-Beatle George Harrison's "Bangla Desh" single in 1971 is commonly acknowledged as the first ever purpose-made charity single – in this case to help fund relief efforts following the 1970 Bhola cyclone and the Bangladesh Liberation War. The money raised was donated to UNICEF, as were takings from Harrison's all-star charity concert (again, the first of its kind) held at Madison Square Garden, New York, and its spin-off live album and concert film.

Some of the other early charity records came from the January 1979 Music for UNICEF Concert, with the likes of ABBA's "Chiquitita" and the Bee Gees' "Too Much Heaven" released as singles, all the royalties from which went to UNICEF. Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in November 1984 began the revolution of the charity record, which would be popularised throughout the 1980s.

In the United States, charity records reached their peak with USA for Africa's "We Are the World" in 1985, but then essentially died out afterwards. In the United Kingdom, however, charity singles (especially Comic Relief), have become annual hits.

Purpose-made "charity singles" however were not the first charity records. As early as 1956, The Lord's Taveners released a 78 rpm disc which contained six tracks donated by popular artists at the time. This was made with the gratitude of The Decca Record Company and the entire profits of the record together with the royalties and fees from artists, publishers, etc., were donated to The National Playing Fields Association. This was the first charity record to make the UK charts and reached Number 2. Due to its success, it was followed by a second compilation in 1957.

Notable charity singles

This list of songs or music-related items is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

1970s

Release Date	Title	Artists	Charity/Cause	Highest Chart Position
July 1971	"Bangla Desh"	George Harrison	UNICEF fund for Bangladesh refugees	10 (US), 23 (UK), 2 (Switzerland), 3 (Norway), 7 (Netherlands)
February 1975	"Santa Never Made It Into Darwin"	Bill and Boyd	Rebuilding Darwin after Cyclone Tracy devastation	1 (Australia)
December 1976	"Si Se Puede"	Los Lobos, Ersie, Raul P. Brambila	"United Farm Workers"

1980s

Release Date	Title	Artists	Charity/Cause	Highest Chart Position
November 1984	"Do They Know It's Christmas?"	Band Aid	famine in Ethiopia	1 (UK), 1 (Australia), 1 (Netherlands)
December 1984	"Last Christmas"/"Everything She Wants"	Wham!	Ethiopian Famine appeal (not originally a charity record, but George Michael acceded to give royalties to Band Aid)	2 (UK), 2 (Netherlands)
March 1985	"Tears Are Not Enough"	Northern Lights	famine in Ethiopia	1 (Canada)
March 1985	"We Are the World"	USA for Africa	famine in Ethiopia	1 (US), 1 (UK), 1 (Australia), 1 (Netherlands)
May 1985	"Stars"	Hear 'n Aid	famine in Ethiopia	26 (UK)
June 1985	"One Big Family"	Heart of Nashville	famine in Ethiopia and Africa	61 (US Country)
June 1985	"You'll Never Walk Alone"	The Crowd	Bradford City stadium fire	1 (UK), 1 (Ireland), 30 (Netherlands)
October 1985	"Sun City"	Artists United Against Apartheid	fight against apartheid	38 (US)
November 1985	"That's What Friends Are For"	Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and Elton John	American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR)	1 (US), 16 (UK), 1 (Australia), 13 (Netherlands)
April 1986	"Living Doll"	Cliff Richard and the cast of The Young Ones	Comic Relief	1 (UK), 1 (Australia), 1 (Netherlands)
April 1986	"Heroes/A Long Way To Go"	The County Line featuring Suzi Quatro, Bronski Beat and Wendy Roberts	Children in Need	76 (UK)
May 1986	"Everybody Wants to Run the World"	Tears For Fears	Sport Aid	5 (UK)
March 1987	"Amor & Paz" (Amor E A Paz)	AUA (Artistas Unidos da América)	famine and poverty around the world	3 (US), 2 (Portugal), 1 (Canada)
March 1987	"Let It Be"	Ferry Aid	Herald of Free Enterprise disaster at Zeebrugge	1 (UK), 4 (Netherlands)
November 1987	"The Wishing Well"	G.O.S.H.	Great Ormond Street Hospital Wishing Well Appeal	22 (UK)
December 1987	"Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree"	Mel & Kim (Mel Smith and Kim Wilde)	Comic Relief	3 (UK)
February 1988	"Man In The Mirror"	Michael Jackson	Michael Jackson Burn Center, Childhelp, United Negro College Fund.	1 (USA), 1 (UK R&B), 13 (Netherlands), 2 (UK) 2009
April 1988	"Let's All Chant"	Pat and Mick	Help a London Child	11 (UK)
May 1988	"With a Little Help from My Friends"	Wet Wet Wet	ChildLine	1 (UK)
July 1988	"Another Part of Me"	Michael Jackson	Michael Jackson Burn Center, Childhelp	1 (US R&B), 8 (Netherlands)
August 1988	"Running All Over the World"	Status Quo	Sport Aid	17 (UK)
February 1989	"Help!"	Bananarama & La na nee nee noo noo (French and Saunders with Kathy Burke)	Comic Relief	3 (UK), 24 (Netherlands)
February 1989	"Pour toi Arménie"	Charles Aznavour & many other French artists	Earthquake in Armenia	1 (FR)
March 1989	"I Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet"	Pat and Mick	Help a London Child	9 (UK)
April 1989	"Ferry Cross the Mersey"	The Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden, Stock Aitken Waterman	Hillsborough disaster	1 (UK), 21 (Netherlands)
December 1989	"Do They Know It's Christmas?"	Band Aid II	famine in Ethiopia	1 (UK), 20 (Netherlands)

1990s

Release Date	Title	Artists	Charity/Cause	Highest Chart Position
April 1990	"Use It Up and Wear It Out"	Pat and Mick	Help a London Child	22 (UK)
June 1990	"You've Got a Friend"	Big Fun, Sonia, featuring Gary Barnacle on saxophone	ChildLine	14 (UK)
February 1991	"Voices that Care"	Voices that Care	To boost the morale of U.S. troops involved in Operation Desert Storm	11 (US)
March 1991	"The Stonk"	Hale and Pace (backing band includes David Gilmour)	Comic Relief	1 (UK)
November 1991	"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"	George Michael, Elton John	10 charities for AIDS, children and education	1 (UK), 1 (US), 1 (Netherlands)
March 1992	"One"	U2	Proceeds going towards AIDS research	7 (UK), 1 (Ireland), 10 (US), 4 (Australia)
April 1992	"(I Want To Be) Elected"	Smear Campaign (Bruce Dickinson, Rowan Atkinson, Angus Deayton)	Comic Relief	9 (UK)
September 1992	"Suicide Is Painless"	Manic Street Preachers	The Spastics Society (now SCOPE)	7 (UK)
November 1992	"Heal The World"	Michael Jackson	Heal the World Foundation	1 (Spain), 2 (UK), 2 (Ire), 2 (Aus), 4 (Netherlands)
February 1993	"Stick It Out"	Right Said Fred and friends	Comic Relief	4 (UK)
December 1993	"Gone Too Soon"	Michael Jackson	Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, AIDS-related research,	3 (Zimbabwe), 20 (Netherlands)
May 1994	"Absolutely Fabulous"	Pet Shop Boys with Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley (of the television series Absolutely Fabulous)	Comic Relief	6 (UK), 2 (Australia)
March 1995	"Love Can Build a Bridge"	Cher, Chrissie Hynde, Neneh Cherry and Eric Clapton	Comic Relief	1 (UK), 41 (Netherlands)
November 1995	"Earth Song"	Michael Jackson	Heal the World Foundation, Environmental Awareness	1 (UK), 1 (Spain), 1 (Sweden), 3 (Netherlands)
November 1995	"The Gift Of Christmas"	Child Liners	ChildLine	9 (UK)
December 1996	"Knockin' on Heaven's Door/Throw These Guns Away"	Ted Christopher (aka Dunblane), Mark Knopfler	Aid of victims of the Dunblane massacre	1 (UK)
March 1997	"Mama"/"Who Do You Think You Are"	The Spice Girls	Comic Relief	1 (UK), 13 (Australia), 3 (Netherlands)
September 1997	"Candle in the Wind 1997"/"Something About The Way You Look Tonight"	Elton John	Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund	1 (US), 1 (UK), 1 (Australia), 1 (Netherlands)
October 1997	"Perfect Day"	Various Artists, see specific article for full list	Children in Need	1 (UK), 6 (Netherlands)
April 1998	"Release"	The Tea Party	White Ribbon Campaign
March 1999	"When the Going Gets Tough"	Boyzone	Comic Relief	1 (UK)
November 1999	"Talking in Your Sleep/Love Me"	Martine McCutcheon	Children In Need	6 (UK)
December 1999	"It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)"	Various Artists	Children's Promise	14 (UK)

2000s

Release Date	Title	Artists	Charity/Cause	Highest Chart Position
December 2000	"Never Had a Dream Come True"	S Club 7	Children In Need	1 (UK), 10 (US)
December 2000	"If That Were Me"	Melanie C	Homeless charity	18 (UK), 22 (SWE), 29 (AUS), 41 (Netherlands)
March 2001	"Uptown Girl"	Westlife	Comic Relief	1 (UK), 6 (Australia), 2 (Netherlands)
September 2001	El Último Adiós (The Last Goodbye)	Various Artists	American Red Cross and United Way of America
September 2001	"By the Sword"	Emilie Autumn	AmeriCares and American Red Cross
December 2001	"What More Can I Give"	Michael Jackson	United We Stand: What More Can I Give
October 2001	"What's Going On"	All Star Tribute	Artists Against AIDS Worldwide and 9/11 victims	27 (US), 6 (UK), 38 (Australia), 26 (Netherlands)
November 2001	"Have You Ever"	S Club 7	Children In Need	1 (UK), 48 (Australia)
December 2001	"Cry"	Michael Jackson	9/11 Relief	7 (Eurochart), 16 (Denmark), 39 (Netherlands)
December 2001	"Never Too Far/Hero Medley"	Mariah Carey	9/11 victims	5 (Japan), 81 (US), 67 (Netherlands)
July 2002	"Your Song"	Elton John and Alessandro Safina	Sport Relief	4 (UK), 88 (Netherlands)
November 2002	"Don't Let Me Down"	Will Young	Children In Need	2 (UK),
March 2003	"Spirit in the Sky"	Gareth Gates and the Kumars	Comic Relief	1 (UK), 11 (Netherlands)
September 2003	"Pandora's Kiss/Don't Give Up"	Louise	Breast Cancer Care	5 (UK)
November 2003	"I'm Your Man"	Shane Richie	Children in Need	2 (UK)
July 2004	"Some Girls"	Rachel Stevens	Sport Relief	2 (UK)
November 2004	"I'll Stand By You"	Girls Aloud	Children in Need	1 (UK), 85 (Netherlands)
November 2004	"Do They Know It's Christmas?"	Band Aid 20	famine in Ethiopia	1 (UK), 9 (Australia), 3 (Netherlands)
November 2004	"Y'a pas un homme qui soit né pour ça"	Sidaction (Florent Pagny / Calogero / Pascal Obispo)	AIDS	20 (France)
December 2004	"Twelve Days of Christmas"	Dreamtime Christmas All-Stars	Starlight Foundation and Youth Off the Streets	26 (Australia)
December 2004	"Father And Son"	Ronan Keating featuring Yusuf Islam	Band Aid Foundation	2 (UK), 84 (Netherlands)
December 2004	"Come On Aussie, Come On"	Shannon Noll	Australian Red Cross' Good Start Breakfast Club	2 (Australia)
December 2004	"We are the world (Cantonese)"	Various Chinese Artists	2004 Indian Ocean earthquake	1 (Hong Kong)
February 2005	"Grief Never Grows Old"	One World Project	2004 Asian Tsunami relief	4 (UK)
February 2005	"Evie Parts 1, 2 and 3"	The Wrights	Stevie Wright, The Salvation Army and 2004 Asian Tsunami relief	2 (Australia)
March 2005	"All About You/You've Got a Friend"	McFly	Comic Relief	1 (UK)
March 2005	"Is This the Way to Amarillo?"	Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay	Comic Relief	1 (UK)
March 2005	"All Around the World"	ProgAID	2004 Asian Tsunami relief
October 2005	"Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?"	The North American Hallowe'en Prevention Initiative	UNICEF	4 (CAN)
November 2005	"A Night to Remember"	Liberty X	Children in Need	6 (UK)
July 2006	"Please, Please/Don't Stop Me Now"	Mcfly	Sport Relief	1 (UK)
September 2006	"Guitarists 4 the Kids"	Various Artists	World Vision Canada
November 2006	"Downtown"	Emma Bunton	Children in Need	3 (UK)
December 2006	"Great Divide"	Hanson	Perinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU) at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, South Africa
April 2007	"I'll Stand by You"	Carrie Underwood	Idol Gives Back	6 (US)
2007	"Walk This Way"	Girls Aloud vs Sugababes	Comic Relief	1 (UK)
2007	"Any Dream Will Do"	Lee Mead	Children in Need	2 (UK)
2007	"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"	Matt Lucas and Peter Kay	Comic Relief	1 (UK)
October 2007	"Sing"	Annie Lennox in collaboration with Madonna and 22 other artists	HIV/AIDS organization Treatment Action Campaign	29 (U.S. Adult Contemporary) 18 (U.S. Hot Club Play) 161 (UK)
November 2007	"Crazy Place"	Esmee Denters	Oxfam
November 2007	"Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)"	Spice Girls	Children in Need	11 (UK)90 (US), 52 (Netherlands)
December 2007	"What A Wonderful World"	Eva Cassidy and Katie Melua	British Red Cross	1 (UK)
March 2008	"Better in Time/Footprints in the Sand"	Leona Lewis	Sport Relief	2 (UK)
September 2008	"Just Stand Up"	Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Natasha Bedingfield, Miley Cyrus, Leona Lewis, Carrie Underwood, Keyshia Cole, LeAnn Rimes, Ashanti, Ciara	Stand Up to Cancer	11 (US), 3 (Italy), 10 (Canada), 26 (UK), 39 (Australia)
October/November 2008	"Hero"	The X Factor Finalists	Help for Heroes	1 (UK)
November 2008	"Follow My Lead"	Justin Timberlake, featuring Esmee Denters	Shriners Hospitals for Children
December 2008	"Once Upon a Christmas Song"	Geraldine McQueen	NSPCC	5 (UK)
March 2009	"Just Can't Get Enough (Depeche Mode song)"	The Saturdays	Comic Relief	2 (UK)
April 2009	"Domani 21/04.09"	Mauro Pagani	2009 L'Aquila earthquake	1 (Italy)
July 2009	"Home"	La Toya Jackson	AIDS Project Los Angeles
August 2009	"Send It On"	Demi Lovato, Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez	Disney's Friends for Change	20 (US)
October 2009	"I Got Soul"	Young Soul Rebels	War Child UK	10 (UK), 19 (IRE)
October 2009	"Kaya Natin Ito! (We can do it!)"	60+ Artists including Ogie Alcasid, Regine Velasquez, Janno Gibbs, Jaya, Gary Valenciano, Martin Nievera, KC Concepcion, The Opera, The Company, Lea Salonga, Rico Blanco, Charice Pempengco, Arnel Pineda, Piolo Pascual, Sharon Cuneta and many more.	Typhoon Ketsana (2009) and Typhoon Parma (2009) relief
November 2009	"You Are Not Alone"	The X Factor Finalists	Great Ormond Street Hospital	1 (UK), 1 (IRE)
November 2009	"The Official BBC Children in Need Medley"	Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band	Children In Need	1 (UK), 6 (IRE)

2010s

Release Date	Title	Artists	Charity/Cause	Highest Chart Position
January 2010	"Oh Africa"	Akon, Keri Hilson	Konfidence	4 (Hungary)
January 2010	"Together Again"	Evanescence	2010 Haiti earthquake relief (United Nations Foundation)
February 2010	"Everybody Hurts"	Alexandra Burke, Cheryl Cole, JLS, James Blunt, James Morrison, Joe McElderry, Jon Bon Jovi, Kylie Minogue, Leona Lewis, Mariah Carey, Michael Bublé, Mika, Miley Cyrus, Robbie Williams, Rod Stewart, Susan Boyle, Take That, Westlife	2010 Haiti earthquake relief	1 (UK)
February 2010	"We Are the World 25 for Haiti"	70+ artists, including Michael Jackson(original recording from 1985), Akon, Tony Bennett, Brandy, Toni Braxton, Harry Connick Jr., Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, Snoop Dogg, Josh Groban, Jennifer Hudson, Enrique Iglesias, LL Cool J, Janet Jackson, Kanye West, Gladys Knight, Jason Mraz, Pink, Carlos Santana, Jordin Sparks, Barbra Streisand, Usher,etc.	2010 Haiti earthquake relief	2 (US)
February 2010	"Make a Wave"	Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas	Disney's Friends for Change	84 (US)
March 2010	"(People of Haiti) 1Radio For Haiti"	artists, including all DJ's from 1radio.org	2010 Haiti earthquake relief (Haiti Hospital Appeal)
March 2010	"Gracias a la Vida"	Beto Cuevas, Fher, Juanes, Miguel Bosé, Alejandro Sanz, Laura Pausini, Michael Bublé, Julieta Venegas and Juan Luis Guerra.	2010 Chile earthquake relief
March 2010	"Que Cante la Vida"	Alberto Plaza, Michael Bublé, Alejandro Sanz, Julieta Venegas, Laura Pausini, Juanes, among others.	2010 Chile earthquake relief
March 2010	"Wavin' Flag"	K'naan, Nelly Furtado, Sam Roberts, Avril Lavigne, Pierre Bouvier, Tyler Connolly, Kardinal Offishall, Jully Black, LIGHTS, Deryck Whibley, Serena Ryder, Jacob Hoggard, Emily Haines, Hawksley Workman, Drake, Chin Injeti, Ima, Pierre Lapointe, Elisapie Isaac, Esthero, Corb Lund, Fefe Dobson, Nikki Yanofsky, Matt Mays, Justin Nozuka and Justin Bieber,etc.	2010 Haiti earthquake relief	1 (Canada)
August 2010	"A Charity Record"	Undiscovered Country, Be Black, Sammy Paul, Ellee Ven, Daniel Fern, etc.	RAINN
October 2010	"In the Army Now"	Status Quo and the Corps of Army Choir	Royal British Legion and Help for Heroes	31 (UK)
November 2010	"Heroes"	The X Factor 2010 Finalists	Help for Heroes	1 (UK)
December 2010	"Need U Need Us"	Nigel Palmer	Gib Mission Africa	1 (Gibraltar-UK)
March 2011	"Gold Forever"	The Wanted	Comic Relief	3 (UK)
April 2011	"Dareka no Tame ni (What Can I Do for Someone?)" (ja)	AKB48	2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami relief	17 (Billboard Japan), 2 (RIAJ)
May 2011	"Light For Japan"	The Answering Machine, Exile Parade, Tribes of the City,Dream Affair,Mad Planet, Elika, Colorblind,Hemlock Smith, Chochukmo,Vidulgi OoyoO,Apollo18, Lullatone,88 Balaz,Bottlesmoker,Nao,Sparrow	2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami relief
June 2011	"Super Mario Bros Theme Acapella"	Jimmy Wong	2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami relief
June 2011	"We Can Change the World"	Bridgit Mendler	Disney's Friends for Change
March 2012	"Rise"	McClain Sisters	Disney's Friends for Change
September 2012	"Ronan"	Taylor Swift	Stand Up to Cancer	16 (US)
December 2012	"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"	Justice Collective	Hillsborough disaster	1 (UK)
December 2012	"Impossible"	James Arthur	Together for Short Lives	1 (UK), 1 (IRE), 2 (Australia)
November 2013	"I Will Be Here"	Edvin Berg feat. Idol (Sweden)	Cancer research	27 (Sweden)
December, 2013	"A Bridge over You"	Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir	Healthcare charities including Carers UK and Mind	1 (UK)
May 2014	"Crystallize"	Kylie Minogue	One Note Against Cancer
September 2014	"Kiss & Love"	Sidaction	AIDS	47 (France)
April, 2015	"Fly"	Avril Lavigne	Special Olympics	92 (Canada)