Everybody Hurts

About

In February 2010, Robbie Williams joined a wide group of artists to record a charity cover of R.E.M.’s Everybody Hurts in aid of the Disasters Emergency Committee and The Sun’s Helping Haiti Fund. Organised by Simon Cowell following the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on 12 January 2010, the single featured more than twenty performers, including Leona Lewis, Mariah Carey, Michael Bublé, Rod Stewart, Cheryl Cole, Kylie Minogue, and Take That’s Gary Barlow and Mark Owen.

The song was released on 7 February 2010, debuting at number one on the UK Singles Chart, where it stayed for two weeks. It sold over 600,000 copies in Britain and topped charts across Europe. Williams’s appearance on the single was notable as his first public collaboration with members of Take That since 1995, preceding their reunion later that year.

Produced by Steve Robson, the recording kept the original ballad structure but layered individual vocal lines from each contributor, blending pop, rock and classical influences. Williams sang part of the closing verse, his vocal contrasting the earlier performances by Leona Lewis and Mariah Carey. The accompanying black-and-white video, directed by Joseph Kahn, intercut studio footage with scenes of the earthquake’s aftermath, underscoring the song’s humanitarian purpose.

“It was the right thing to do, everyone just wanted to help. It was a reminder that music can still bring people together for something that matters.”Robbie Williams

Everybody Hurts became one of the year’s biggest charity singles and raised millions for emergency relief efforts in Haiti. For Williams, the project marked both a moment of collective compassion and the symbolic first step towards his renewed partnership with Take That later in 2010.