George Michael’s Contribution to ‘Hope’ Album for Iraqi Children Affected by War

In 2003, George Michael contributed a song to the album “Hope” to raise money for the Iraqi children affected by the war.

Released on 21 April 2003 in the United Kingdom, “Hope” is a compilation album released by the War Child charity in conjunction with Daily Mirror to raise funds and awareness for victims of the Iraq war.

All the artists recorded their tracks free of charge and London Records distributed the disc without taking the profit. All proceeds went to the charity War Child https://www.warchild.org.uk/

The album features exclusive tracks recorded specifically for this collection. It includes covers, new songs and re-recordings of old ones. George’s contribution to the album was his recording of Don McLean’s protest song “The Grave.” (Read George Michael’s Cover of Don McLean’s Song ‘The Grave’).

The songs in the ‘Hope’ album are:

1. The Beautiful Occupation – Travis
2. Knockin On Heavens Door – Avril Lavigne
3. Calico Skies – Paul McCartney
4. Everyone Says Hi (METRO Mix) – David Bowie
5. The Grave – George Michael
6. In The Ghetto – Ronan Keating
7. Stand Up As People – Lee Ryan
8. Loves In Need Of Love Today – Beverley Knight
9. Nearer – Moby
10. Vietnam – New Order
11. Love Is The Answer – Basement Jaxx
12. Hold On (War Child Mix) – Spiritualized
13. We Gotta Have Peace – The Charlatans
14. Ooh Child – Beth Orton
15. Border Song – Tom McRae
16. The Wolf Covers Its Tracks – Billy Bragg
17. Peace Train – Yusuf Islam

Talking about the album, Sir Paul McCartney in an interview said,

“Whatever the politics, whatever the rights and wrongs of war, children are always the innocent victims, so I am delighted to make this small contribution.”

The ‘Hope’ album was is a follow-up to the 1995 album Help: A Charity Project for the Children of Bosnia.