A charity record, charity album, or charity single is a recording with most or all proceeds raised going to a dedicated foundation or charity. In 1956, The Lord's Taverners released a 78 rpm disc which contained six tracks donated by popular artists at the time. The record was released by The Decca Record Company and the entire profits of the record together with the royalties and fees from artists, publishers, etc., were donated to The National Playing Fields Association. This was the first charity record to make the UK charts and reached Number 2. Due to its success, it was followed by a second compilation in 1957.

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

's "

Bangla Desh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world and among the most densely populated with a population of over 171 million within an area of . Bangl ...

" single in 1971 is commonly regarded as the first successful international charity single; it was recorded to help fund relief efforts following the

1970 Bhola cyclone The 1970 Bhola cyclone (also known as the Great Cyclone of 1970) was a catastrophic and extremely deadly tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) and India's West Bengal on 12 November 1970. It remains the deadliest t ...

and the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

. The money raised was donated to

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

, as were takings from Harrison's

Concert for Bangladesh The Concert for Bangladesh (or Bangla Desh, as the country's name was originally spelt)Harry, p. 135. was a pair of benefit concerts organised by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and the Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. The shows we ...

(again, the first of its kind) held at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

, New York, and its spin-off live album and concert film. This is one way of using artistic talent as art for charity. Some of the other early charity records came from the January 1979

Music for UNICEF Concert The Music for UNICEF Concert: A Gift of Song was a benefit concert of popular music held in the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on January 9, 1979. It was intended to raise money for UNICEF world hunger programs and to mark the ...

, with the likes of

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

's "

Chiquitita "Chiquitita" ("Little Girl" in Spanish) is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released in January 1979 as the first single from '' Voulez-Vous'' (1979), the group's sixth album. Agnetha Fältskog performs the lead vocals. Origin ...

" and the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

' "

Too Much Heaven "Too Much Heaven" is a song by the Bee Gees, which was the band's contribution to the "Music for UNICEF" fund. They performed it at the Music for UNICEF Concert on 9 January 1979. The song later found its way to the group's thirteenth original ...

" released as singles, all the royalties from which went to UNICEF. Band Aid's "

Do They Know It's Christmas? "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a charity song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded by Band Aid, a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of pop ...

" in November 1984 began the revolution of the charity record, which would be popularised throughout the 1980s. In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, charity records reached their peak with

USA for Africa "We Are the World" is a charity record, charity single recorded by the charity supergroup, supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones for the album ''We Are the World (al ...

's "

We Are the World "We Are the World" is a charity single recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones for the album '' We Are the World''. With sales in excess of 20 milli ...

" in 1985, but then essentially died out afterwards. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, however, charity singles (especially

Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

), have become annual hits.

Notable charity singles

1970s

1980s

1990s

* "Who Do You Think You Are" is the Comic Relief side

2000s

2010s

* Unlike the single by Sam Smith in 2015, the charity version of " What Do I Know?" was combined with the original's sales when calculating the chart position with no official listing for Kurupt FM.

2020s

May 2025 Who Got It All Amasing Trussel Trust

References

{{Wikiquote Lists of songs