"Everybody Hurts" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. from their eighth studio album, '' Automatic for the People'' (1992), and released as a single in April 1993 by Warner Bros. Records. It was written by the band and produced by them with Scott Litt. The song peaked at number 29 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, but fared much better on the US ''Cash Box'' Top 100, where it peaked at number 18. It also reached the top 10 on the charts of Australia, Canada, France, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Its accompanying music video, directed by Jake Scott and filmed in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, won an award for Best Clip of the Year in the category for Pop/AC at the 1994 ''Billboard'' Music Video Awards. In 2003, '' Q'' ranked "Everybody Hurts" at number 31 on their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever", and in 2005, '' Blender'' ranked the song at number 238 on their list of "Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".

Background

Much of the song was written by drummer

Bill Berry William Thomas Berry (born July 31, 1958) is an American musician who was the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Although best known for his economical drumming style, Berry also played other instruments, including guitar, bass guita ...

, although as R.E.M. share songwriting credits among its members, it is unknown how much he actually wrote. Berry's drums are largely absent from the song—a Univox

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

took his place—but he was responsible for the sampling of the drum pattern on the track. The string arrangement was written by former

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

bassist

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...

. Guitarist Peter Buck commented on the making of the track, saying: In the liner notes of the album '' In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003'', Buck wrote that "the reason the lyrics are so atypically straightforward is because it was aimed at teenagers", and "I've never watched ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...

'', but the idea that high school is a portal to hell seems pretty realistic to me." In 2005, Buck told the BBC: "If you're consciously writing for someone who hasn't been to college, or is pretty young, it might be nice to be very direct. In that regard, it's tended to work for people of a lot of ages." In 2022, Stipe told

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...

that "Everybody Hurts" was inspired by

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

's cover of "

Love Hurts "Love Hurts" is a song written and composed by the American songwriter Boudleaux Bryant. First recorded by the Everly Brothers in July 1960, the song is most well known in two hit versions by UK artists: by Scottish hard rock band Nazareth in ...

". Michael Stipe had originally intended for

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...

to be a second vocal on the track, but it did not work out. Smith later included her own cover of the song as a bonus track on the 2007 album '' Twelve''.

Critical reception

The song received favorable reviews from most music critics.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

editor

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

found that it has "a comforting melancholy". David Bauder from ''

The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are distributed to its members, major ...

'' said that it keeps "the pace slow and the mood melancholy."

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine named it a "spare, honest, and emotional track", adding "when the strings kick in, there's no denying this song's power." Bevan Hannah from ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in 1 ...

'' noted its "smoothly caressing guitar". Another ''The Canberra Times'' editor, Larry McShane, described it as "haunting". Randy Clark from ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' named it the "strongest" cut of the album. Another editor of the magazine, Troy J. Augusto, felt it "might be a hard sell at radio, given the somber mood and suicide related theme". He complimented the singer's "silky vocals and the song's lush string section

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

provide this track's main appeal." Justin Wilson from ''

The Cavalier Daily ''The Cavalier Daily'' is an independent, student-run daily news organization at the University of Virginia. Founded in 1890, under the name ''College Topics'', ''The Cavalier Daily'' is Virginia's oldest collegiate daily and the oldest daily n ...

'' also named it "the best song on the album, one of R.E.M.'s best songs ever". He declared it as "emotionally moving" and "deeply affecting".

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...

from ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' stated that it's "a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

that would border on the maudlin if Stipe didn't sing it with such conviction". Ron Fell from the ''

Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The ...

'' felt Stipe's "powerful and emotional life-affirming message comes across very clear." He named it "a favorite track" from the album. A reviewer from '' The Gazette'' commented that ''Automatic for the People'' ponders frustrations of life in the " Bee Geeish" 'Everybody Hurts'". In his weekly UK chart commentary,

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a British music critic and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worke ...

wrote that it is "the most beautiful and moving track on the album" and "just a reflection of how the band can do no wrong at present." Chris Roberts from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' named it Single of the Week, adding that "this is clearly a "

Let It Be Let It Be most commonly refers to: * ''Let It Be'' (album), the Beatles' final studio album, released in 1970 * "Let It Be" (song), the title song from the album Let It Be may also refer to: Film and television * ''Let It Be'' (1970 film), ...

"/"

Candle in the Wind "Candle in the Wind" is a threnody-style ballad written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was originally written in 1973, in honour of Marilyn Monroe, who had died 11 years earlier. In 199 ...

" of its (white rock) generation, ndit avoids being fatally overblown by virtue of Stipes's meticulously understated vocal." Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' described it as an "ultra melancholic ballad", noting that with string arrangements by ex

bass player

, it is "the "Bridge Over Troubled Water" for the '90s with Michael Stipe as

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo comprising the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music acts of the 1960s. Their most famous recordings include three US number-one sing ...

rolled into one." Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' named it Pick of the Week, declaring it as "a torchy ballad, with Stipe's fragile and waivering ic.vocal offset at times by discreet strings." He also complimented it as "radio-friendly". Gina Morris from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' called it "another larger than life, atmospheric pop song" along the lines of "

Drive Drive or The Drive may refer to: Motoring * Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle * Road trip, a journey on roads Roadways Roadways called "drives" may include: * Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive" * ...

". Parry Gettelman from ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

'' viewed it as "boring" and "repetitive". ''

People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''Peopl ...

s reviewer found that here, the vocalist "succeeds at talking a friend out of suicide". ''

Scripps Howard News Service The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by E. W. Scripps, Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a ...

'' wrote that the singer "has never sung better" and noted that "the unabashedly emotional" track "gives him plenty of range to display those pipes."

David Cavanagh David Cavanagh was an Irish writer and music journalist. He was editor of '' Select'' magazine in the 1990s and wrote ''My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry for the Prize'' (2000), which detailed the rise and fall of Creation Records. Cavanagh was born in D ...

from '' Select'' said that it is "virtually beyond words." He added, "It will have non-REM maniacs in hysterics with its delicate Spector structure and childlike message ("''everybody hurts, everybody cries...when you think you've had too much of this life, hang on...''"). It will make everyone else cry. It really is that straightforward."

Tim Southwell Tim Southwell is the co-founder of '' loaded'' magazine, launched in April 1994. Biography Along with James Brown and Mick Bunnage, Southwell helped create the men's magazine phenomenon of the 1990s. Previously to ''loaded'', Southwell founded ...

from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' gave the song five out of five, viewing it as "a beautiful, touching and absorbing ballad", and "bloody beautiful."

Music video

In the accompanying music video for "Everybody Hurts", directed by British film director Jake Scott and filmed along the double deck portions of

I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the originall ...

near the I-35 Interchange in downtown

, in February 1993, the band is stuck in a traffic jam. It shows the people in other cars and subtitles of their thoughts appear on screen. A man standing on an overpass drops pages from a book he is reading onto the cars below, while the subtitles read "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I" and "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy", quotes from the biblical Book of Psalms 61 and 126 respectively. At the end, all the people leave their cars and walk instead; then they vanish, followed by scenes of a newscast reporting on the unusual event. Although Michael Stipe is featured prominently in the video, he remains silent until the final "Hold On, Hold On" part of the song. The video was heavily inspired by the traffic jam in the opening dream sequence of

Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and ...

's ''

8½ ''8½'' ( ) is a 1963 Italian avant-garde arthouse comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Federico Fellini. The metafictional narrative centers on famous Italian film director Guido Anselmi ( Marcello Mastroianni) who suffers from writer ...

''. "Everybody Hurts" won an award for Best Clip of the Year in the category for Pop/AC at the 1994 ''

'' Music Video Awards. It was later made available in HD on the band's official

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel in 2009, and had generated more than 168 million views as of early 2025 on the platform.

Usage in media

In 1995, British emotional support listening service

The Samaritans Samaritans is a registered charitable organisation, charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope or at risk of suicide throughout the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, often thr ...

, in response to the high suicide rate but low crisis service take-up amongst young men, launched a UK press advertising campaign consisting solely of the lyrics to "Everybody Hurts" and the charity's hotline number. The song was placed on R.E.M.'s

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

"best of" album '' In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003'' in 2003. It was one of four songs from ''Automatic for the People'' to make the compilation, more than from any other album. The song is included on '' R.E.M. Live''.

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

used the song in a

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

video showing several Democratic politicians with sad-looking reactions towards his 2019 State of the Union Address. The former members of the band responded to this on their Twitter page, saying: "World Leader PRETEND!!! Congress, Media--ghost this faker!!! Love, R.E.M." Eventually, Twitter removed the video following a copyright complaint from

Concord Music Concord Music Group was an American independent music company based in Beverly Hills, California, with worldwide (including the U.S.) distribution through Universal Music Group. The company specialized in recordings and music publishing. On Apri ...

, the band's record label. Trump later re-uploaded the video, using

Lee Greenwood Melvin Lee Greenwood (born October 27, 1942) is an American country music singer. Active since 1962, he won a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award and he has charted 33 singles on the Hot Country Songs with seven singles reaching the number one. He has ...

's " God Bless the U.S.A." instead. Both versions of the video were created by a self-proclaimed Trump supporter named @CarpeDonktum. The song also appeared in ''

The Addams Family The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' between 193 ...

'', sung by Lurch.

Track listings

All songs were written by

, Peter Buck,

Mike Mills Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of R.E.M., hi ...

, and

Michael Stipe John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Stipe was born in Metro Atlanta in January 1960. Due to his father's militar ...

unless otherwise indicated. "Belong" and "

Losing My Religion "Losing My Religion" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on February 19, 1991 by Warner Bros. as the first single from their seventh album, '' Out of Time'' (1991). It developed from a mandolin riff improvised by the ...

" were recorded live at the Capital Plaza Theater in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in West Virginia, most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Kanawha County, West Virginia, Kanawha County and ...

, on April 28, 1992. "

Orange Crush Crush is a brand of carbonated soft drinks owned and marketed internationally by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally created as an orange soda, Orange Crush. It was created in 1911, 30 years before Coca-Cola's Fanta, by beverage and extract chemist ...

" was recorded live in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, US, in November 1989. * US 7-inch and CD single # "Everybody Hurts" – 4:46 # "Mandolin Strum" – 3:45 * US 12-inch, maxi-CD, and cassette single 1 # "Everybody Hurts" – 4:56 # "Mandolin Strum" – 3:45 # "Belong" (live) – 4:06 # "Orange Crush" (live) – 3:58 * US 12-inch, maxi-CD, and cassette single 2 # "Everybody Hurts" – 4:56 # "Star Me Kitten" (demo) – 3:04 # "

" (live) – 4:54 # "Organ Song" – 3:23 * UK 7-inch and cassette single # "Everybody Hurts" (edit) – 4:46 # " Pop Song '89" – 3:03 * UK CD1 # "Everybody Hurts" (edit) – 4:46 # "New Orleans Instrumental No. 1" (long version) – 3:28 # "Mandolin Strum" – 3:45 * UK CD2 # "Everybody Hurts" (edit) – 4:46 # "Chance" (dub) – 2:32 # " Dark Globe" – 1:51 * European and Australasian CD single # "Everybody Hurts" (edit) – 4:56 # "Mandolin Strum" – 3:45 # "Chance" (dub) – 2:32 # "Dark Globe" – 1:51

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Helping Haiti charity single

In an attempt to raise money for victims of the

2010 Haiti earthquake The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (departm ...

, British Prime Minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

asked

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...

to arrange a

charity single 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 artis ...

. Cowell chose "Everybody Hurts". Brown agreed to waive

VAT A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)) is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared wi ...

on the single, and R.E.M. agreed to waive all royalties. The release would be under the name Helping Haiti. Proceeds from the single were to be split between ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'' Helping Haiti fund and the Disasters Emergency Committee. The single was released digitally on February 7, 2010, and physically on February 8, 2010. Reportedly, the single's sales in the UK were approximately 205,000 copies in its first two days and 453,000 in its first week, making it the fastest-selling charity record of the 21st century in Britain. This cover is also noteworthy for featuring

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

' first collaboration with

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

since Williams parted ways with the group in 1995, although neither act was present for each other's recording session. This release also marks

Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and Lead vocalist, frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was fo ...

's first No. 1 appearance on the UK Singles Chart.

Artists

The song is performed by the following artists (in order of appearance): *

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress, model, and activist. Born and raised in Islington, Inner London, she later attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieve ...

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

Cheryl Cheryl is a feminine given name with multiple origins. The name might have originated as a combination of the name Beryl with the prefix ''Cher-'' from the French ''chérie'', meaning ''darling'' (from the past participle of the verb ''chérir'' ...

* Mika *

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Regarded as a pop icon, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American ...

Joe McElderry Joseph McElderry (; born 16 June 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. He won the The X Factor (British series 6), sixth series of ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor'' in 2009. His first single "The Climb (Joe McElderry song), ...

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...

James Blunt James Blunt (born James Hillier Blount, 22 February 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is known for his songs "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover". As a British Army captain in the aftermath of the Kosovo War, Blunt ...

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, having writ ...

Mark Owen Mark Owen (born 27 January 1972) is an English singer and songwriter best known for being a member of pop group and band Take That; as of 2024, the group have sold 14.4 million albums and 14 million singles in the UK. In Owen's solo career, he h ...

* James Morrison *

Alexandra Burke Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke (born 25 August 1988) is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fifth series of the talent television show ''The X Factor'' in 2008. Following the show, she was signed to Syco Music and releas ...

Jason Orange Jason Thomas Orange (born 10 July 1970) is an English former singer. He is best known for being a member of the pop group Take That from the band's creation in 1990 until their split in 1996, and again from their reunion in 2005 until he retire ...

Susan Boyle Susan Magdalane Boyle (born 1 April 1961) is a Scottish singer who rose to fame in 2009 after appearing as a contestant on the third series of '' Britain's Got Talent'', singing " I Dreamed a Dream" from '. As of 2021, Boyle has sold 25 ...

* JLS *

Shane Filan Shane Steven Filan (born 5 July 1979) is an Irish singer best known as a member of the pop vocal group Westlife, which was formed in 1998, disbanded in 2012, and regrouped in 2018. Westlife has released thirteen albums, embarked on twelve wor ...

Mark Feehily Markus Michael Patrick Feehily (born 28 May 1980) is an Irish singer, best known as a member of the pop vocal group Westlife. Westlife has released twelve albums, embarked on thirteen world tours and won several awards, becoming one of the most ...

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

Kian Egan Kian John Francis Egan (born 29 April 1980) is an Irish pop singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as a member of the pop group Westlife. Westlife have released twelve albums, embarked on thirteen world tours, and won numerous award ...

Nicky Byrne Nicholas Bernard James Adam McGarry Byrne Jr. (born 9 October 1978) is an Irish pop singer, songwriter and radio and television presenter. He is best known for being a member of the pop group Westlife; Westlife has since released twelve albums, ...

Chart performance for Helping Haiti version

Following its February 7, 2010, release in the UK and Ireland, Helping Haiti's song entered the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

on February 12 at No. 1. It entered the UK Singles Chart on February 14 at No. 1, spending two weeks at the top spot before dropping to No. 9. The single debuted on the

Australian Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

on February 23 at No. 28.

Music video for Helping Haiti version

A five-minute promotional short documentary was broadcast on ITV at 20.30 on February 7, 2010. The documentary includes "behind the scenes" footage of the featured performers (except for Carey, Cyrus, Bon Jovi, and Minogue) recording their vocals intercut with real-world images and footage from the earthquake aftermath, opening with a statement of what happened on January 12, 2010, and continuing with footage showing the devastation in the country and the suffering of the Haitians.Everybody Hurts Haiti Charity video
from BBC The official music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, premiered on March 6, 2010. Jon Bon Jovi and Michael Bublé are the only featured artists not to appear in this video.

Track listing for Helping Haiti version

# "Everybody Hurts" – 5:24 # "Everybody Hurts" (alternative mix) – 5:35

Charts for Helping Haiti version

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications for Helping Haiti version

References

External links

Helping Haiti Facebook siteBBC on the song's history and meaning
{{authority control 1992 songs 1993 singles 2010 Haiti earthquake 2010 Haiti earthquake relief 2010 singles 1990s ballads R.E.M. songs American soft rock songs Gospel songs Irish Singles Chart number-one singles MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction Music videos directed by Jake Scott (director) Number-one singles in Scotland Rock ballads Song recordings produced by Bill Berry Song recordings produced by Michael Stipe Song recordings produced by Mike Mills Song recordings produced by Peter Buck Song recordings produced by Scott Litt Songs about suicide Songs written by Bill Berry Songs written by Michael Stipe Songs written by Mike Mills Songs written by Peter Buck Syco Music singles UK singles chart number-one singles Warner Records singles All-star recordings