'Everybody Hurts' Dominates the Charts

With sales of more than 453,000 copies in its first week of release, 'Everybody Hurts,' the Helping Haiti single organised by Simon Cowell, has not only rocketed to the top of the UK charts but has also become a record-breaker in its own right after generating the biggest first-week sales of any charity record released this century.

The cover of the 1992 R.E.M. classic has a cast list that includes Jon Bon Jovi, X-Factor winner Leona Lewis, Take That and Robbie Williams and proceeds from the single will be split between the Disasters Emergency Committee (D.E.C.) and the Sun newspaper's Helping Haiti campaign.

Speaking of the singles impressive efforts, Martin Talbot -- managing director of the Official Chart Company -- said, "The public have clearly taken the plight of the Haitian people to heart - this record is huge."

His sentiments were echoed by HMV spokesperson Gennaro Castaldo. "It's already the biggest seller of the year so far, and is now likely to go on to be the number one single of 2010," he said.

As previously reported on Spinner, more help is on its way in the form of the Shane MacGowan-led cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' 'I Put A Spell On You". Featuring contributions from Nick Cave, Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie and former Clash guitarist Mick Jones, the single will be released at the end of February.