One Direction is teaming up with the charity Comic Relief to put out a new single that will benefit the charity’s ‘Red Nose Day’ fundraising initiative.
One Direction has recorded a cover of Blondie’s 1979 hit ‘One Way or Another.’ The single will be available on iTunes on February 17th.
The lads have decided to forfeit all of their royalties that they would receive from the single’s sales and give them directly to Comic Relief. The band’s label, Syco, has also said it will be donating 100 percent of proceeds to the charity.
Mullingar native Niall Horan said “We are really excited to be part of Red Nose Day this year. We recorded Blondie’s One Way or Another and we really want the song to raise lots of money and for people to show their support by going out and buying themselves a copy.”
By doing a Red Nose Day single, One Direction is joining the ranks of other great acts and their charitable covers such as The Saturdays’ ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ (2009), Sugababes vs. Girls Aloud’s ‘Walk This Way’ (2007), ‘Uptown Girl’ by Westlife (2001), McFly’s ‘All About You’ (2005) and Tony Christie & Peter Kay’s ‘Is This The Way To Amarillo’ (2005).
1D’s cover of ‘One Way or Another’ is the official ‘Red Nose Day’ single for 2013. According to Comic Relief, “Red Nose Day is a huge fundraising event organised by UK charity Comic Relief every other year. It originally launched on Christmas Day 1985 aiming to make the public laugh with celebrity sketches and routines while highlighting and raising money for the then crippling famine in Ethiopia.”
“Red Nose Day quickly became a charity telethon bringing together the very best of UK comedy and entertainment for one night of fundraising. The first Red Nose Day in 1988 raised an incredible £15 million ($238 million) and this year Red Nose Day celebrates its 25th anniversary – an amazing achievement!”
“Since 1988 Red Nose Day has gone from strength to strength raising over £600 million ($947 million) to date for those in need in Africa and in the UK, and becoming one of the biggest charity events on the UK calendar. This year's event takes place on Friday 15th March 2013.”
One Direction will be performing their charitable single at the BRIT awards on February 12, while Comic Relief will be airing in the UK on March 15.
Good on the lads for getting involved with such a great charity!
Check out a behind the scenes look at One Direction in Japan performing snippets of ‘One Way or Another’:
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