SIMON COWELL's all-star collaboration EVERYBODY HURTS for earthquake-stri= cken Haiti has set a new record after becoming the U.K.'s fastest-selling= charity single this century.
The American Idol judge recruited a host of stars, including Mariah Car= ey, Leona Lewis and Susan Boyle, to perform on the R.E.M. cover track in = a bid to raise money for survivors of last month's (12Jan10) tremor.
Since its release on Sunday (07Feb10), the song has already shifted mor= e than 200,000 units - and it's on course to have the biggest first week = sales of any single since 2000.
A spokesperson for the Official Charts Company says, "This is a phenome= nal achievement. The public are certainly not showing any signs of charit= y fatigue." R.E.M. have agreed to waive royalty fees, while all proceeds are being = split between the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and British newspap= er The Sun's Helping Haiti campaign.
More than 230,000 people died in the disaster.