All-star cast bid for Christmas No 1 with cover version of Hollies classic He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother

Paul McCartney will join Robbie Williams on the Hillsborough campaign’s Christmas single, which is already the bookies’ favourite to top the UK charts on 25 December. The former Beatle will sing and play guitar, accompanying a cast of stars for a new version of the Hollies’ 1969 hit He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.

Scheduled for release on 17 December, the new version of He Ain’t Heavy features McCartney, Williams, Mick Jones, X Factor star Rebecca Ferguson, Mel C, Gerry Marsden, Paloma Faith, Squeeze’s Glenn Tilbrook, Beady Eye‘s Chris Sharrock, Hollie Cook, Jon McClure, Eliza Doolittle, Beverley Knight, Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool MP Steve Rotheram, John Bishop and members of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Lawson, the Farm, the Zutons, the Beautiful South and Cast. The sessions are being produced by Guy Chambers, best known for his work with Williams.

“[McCartney] decided to do it and I think that’s lovely because he’s from Liverpool, he knows how Liverpool people work and he understands us,” said Margaret Aspinall, chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group. Aspinall’s 18-year-old son James was among the 96 Liverpool football fans who died at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final at Sheffield’s Hillsborough stadium. She told BBC News she recalls her son giving her the original Hollies single just weeks before he died. “I thought, maybe he’s handing me this new version and saying ‘listen to this’,” she said.

Families of the victims have now heard the charity single, which will raise funds for their ongoing legal costs. Every week sees new developments in the investigation of the cover-up of events surrounding the disaster, with a new report finding that 116 of 164 witness statements were edited to remove criticism of South Yorkshire police.

A news article on 2012-11-23 11:28:00 from: The Guardian

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