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The Justice Collective - 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother' Is The Christmas Number One Single













Beady Eye's drummer Chris Sharrock is a member of the all-star line-up for the Hillsborough tribute single, ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother’ that has been today announced as the Christmas number one single in the UK.

Released under the name The Justice Collective, it features names such as Robbie Williams and Sir Paul McCartney. It is raising money for the families of 96 Liverpool fans who died in a crush at Hillsborough stadium in 1989. A cover of The Hollies' 1969 hit, it sold 269,000 copies, 45,000 more than X Factor winner James Arthur's single Impossible which dropped to number two.

Arthur, who had been ahead in the race earlier in the week according to the Official Charts Company, now has total sales of 749,000, making him the most successful X Factor winner since Alexandra Burke in 2008.

Sales had been 'absolutely huge' in Liverpool, HMV said Liverpool Walton Labour MP Steve Rotheram, who backed the Hillsborough campaign, said: "We have done in nine weeks what it normally takes nine months or more to achieve, working with a phenomenally dedicated team all of whom have worked for free."

Margaret Aspinall, chair of the Hillsborough Families Support Group, said it was "brilliant news". She added: "The families will be delighted. We haven't had very good Christmases for a long time so this is an extra gift. "It's obvious that it's got a lot of support and they've got the message across to everybody. It's truly amazing."

Music giant HMV said demand for the record had been "absolutely huge" in Liverpool. Its Liverpool branch initially ordered 12,000 copies of the CD but had to restock in the middle of the week after selling out.

Many customers bought multiple copies, including one man in his 20s, who bought 96 copies - one for each of the supporters who died in the tragedy. "We haven't seen anything like that since Band Aid," said HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo.



iTunes NOW: http://bit.ly/jft96itunespreorder
Physical copy from HMV: http://bit.ly/jft96CD
Text JUSTICE to 80010 NOW. Texts cost £1 + standard network rate.

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