He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother as the Hollies' version in 1988. In 2012, a version of the song was recorded, and was released on 17 December 2012, by musicians and celebrities going under the name The Justice Collective, for various charities associated with the Hillsborough disaster. The song went on to take the coveted Christmas number one position for 2012 on the UK Singles Chart, beating "The X Factor" winner James Arthur, who was number one the previous week. After the News International phone hacking scandal, members of The Farm along with Pete Wylie and Mick Jones of The Clash performed at an anti-"The Sun"
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother concert at the Liverpool Olympia in September 2011. Following this they formed The Justice Tonight Band and toured the United Kingdom and Europe for the next year in order to raise awareness of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign. Initially, the idea was to re-release the 2009 single "The Fields of Anfield Road" by The Liverpool Collective featuring The Kop Choir; however, this idea was rejected by Peter Hooton as only a relatively small number of people would buy it. Inspired by Everton's Hillsborough tribute on 17 September 2012, the song was played at Goodison Park prior to their match against Newcastle