SIMON COWELL'S HAITI SINGLE BREAKS RECORD

The record, masterminded by Simon Cowell to help Haiti earthquake victims, sold more than 200,000 in its first two days.

And it is on course to have the biggest first-week sales of any single since 2000, said the Official Charts Company.

Everybody  Hurts features singers Leona Lewis, Susan Boyle, Kylie Minogue, Rod Stewart and band JLS. The ballad of REM’s 1990 hit also reunites Robbie Williams with his former Take That bandmates. Martin Talbot, the Original Charts Company managing director, said: “This is a phenomenal achievement.”