West End Stars Unite For Charity Single In Aid Of Barnardo's

A host of West End stars have recorded a festive cover of Carole King's You've Got A Friend, to raise money for children's charity, Barnardo's.

It is now available to download here.

The recording features vocals from the West End's finest talent including Nathan Amzi, Natasha Barnes, Christina Bennington, Daniel Boys, Janie Dee, Ben Forster, Clare Foster, Evelyn Hoskins, Damian Humbley, Tyrone Huntley, Amy Lennox, Alexia Khadime, Emma Kingston, Kate Marlais, Nadim Naaman, Gloria Obianyo, Jon Robyns, Jenna Russell, Lauren Samuels, Cleve September, Jodie Steele, Liam Tamne, Rebecca Trehearn, Obioma Ugoala and Alex Young.

Produced by Ben Hewis and Ben Robbins, the new arrangement by Kate Marlais has orchestrations by Marlais and Alex Young and was recorded at Umbrella Rooms. Musicians on the track include Hayley Pope and Rebecca Bainbridge (violins), Rosalind Ford (cello) and Ben Robbins (piano).

On the inspiration behind the track, Hewis said: "I became a dad recently and as this year's festive season approached, I began to think about how we could make it special for my son. That's when I realised that are thousands of children around the country who won't have someone to make Christmas special for them. I just had to do something about that.

"The brilliant Kate Marlais agreed to arrange a festive version of Carole King's beautiful song and the whole project snowballed. I'm incredibly grateful for the generosity of every single person involved in this project."

The single is now available to download on all major online stores including iTunes and Google Play, and a corresponding JustGiving campaign has been launched to raise money for the vital work Barnardo's do to help children and families around the UK. The music video will premiere on Facebook.com/WhatsOnStage at midday on 19 December 2018.

iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/youve-got-a-friend-single/1447236731

Google Play link: https://play.google.com/store/music/album?id=Brvs326ovofzgdtaaczrdhgl7ni&tid=song-Tw4m26sswdgrurdpwmj5djvrnfa

JustGiving link: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/westendfriends

Watch the music video: