He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother

Story of Song

23 years after the 1989 human crush that occurred during the FA Cup semifinal match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England–which resulted in the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans–the Hillsborough Independent Panel published the findings of its report, which concluded that no Liverpool fans were responsible for the disaster, and that up to 41 fans could have been saved if the emergency services response had been swifter. Steve Rotheram, the MP for Liverpool Walton, expressed a desire to release a charity single to raise funds for the legal costs of the Hillsborough victims’ families as part of their campaign for justice. Inspired by Everton’s Hillsborough tribute on 17 September 2012, when the Hollies hit “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” was played prior to their match against Newcastle United, it was decided that a re-recording of the song by various artists would be released as the charity single.

Release date

Released December 17, 2012.

Songwriter/s

Bob Russel  – Bobby Scott

Label

Metropolis

Chart Rankings

The single topped the UK Singles Charts that Christmas. It reached number 2 in Scotland, number 4 in Ireland and topped the UK Indie charts. The single didn’t make it to the US charts, but reached number 33 in Spain and number 17 in Norway.

Artist’s age on release date

The Justice Collective band consists of Andy Brown (Lawson) – Gerry Marsden (Gerry and the Pacemakers) – Paul Heaton (The Beautiful South) – Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze) – John Power (Cast, The La’s) – Robbie Williams – Melanie C – Rebecca Ferguson – Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) – Paloma Faith – Beverley Knight – Eliza Doolittle – Dave McCabe (The Zutons) – Peter Hooton (The Farm) – Ren Harvieu – Jon McClure (Reverend and The Makers) – Paul McCartney – Shane MacGowan (The Pogues) – Bobby Elliot (The Hollies) – Tony Hicks (The Hollies) – Hollie Cook (The Slits) – LiPA Gospel Choir – Clay Crosse – Alan Hansen – Peter Reid – John Bishop – Kenny Dalglish – Neil Fitzmaurice.

Cover Versions

Amateur artists covered this song on Youtube.

Video