He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother Town children's home by founder Father Edward Flanagan. The Hollies' recording, which featured Elton John on piano, was released in the UK on 1 September 1969 and on 1 December 1969 in the US. It reached No. 3 in the UK and No. 7 in the US. The song, paired with rarity "Carrie", was re-released in late 1988 in the UK following its use in a television advertisement for Miller Lite beer. It reached the No. 1 spot in the UK chart for two weeks in September 1988. Neil Diamond's version of the song, recorded for his "Tap Root Manuscript"
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother United. It was then decided that a re-recording of this song by various artists including The Justice Tonight Band would be released as the charity single. Keith Mullen of The Farm recruited Guy Chambers to produce the single and with Chambers offering free use of his Sleeper Studios to record the song. On 25 October 2012, Steve Rotheram, Guy Chambers and Kenny Dalglish announced plans of the single to be recorded by various artists such as Robbie Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, Paloma Faith, Beverley Knight, Melanie Chisholm, Holly Johnson, Mick Jones, Glen Campbell, Peter Hooton, Chris Sharrock, Glenn Tilbrook, Ren Harvieu,