'God Only Knows' Remade for Charity; Stevie Wonder, One Direction, Pharrell and More Redo Beach Boys Classic
One Direction, Stevie Wonder and Pharrell are among more than two dozen stars who united for the remake of acclaimed singer/songwriter Brian Wilson's "God Only Knows."
On Tuesday, BBC debuted the star-studded music video, which is designed to promote the network's new music initiative, BBC music.
Nearly 30 artists, including Elton John, Lorde and Chris Martin, appear in the video remake of The Beach Boys' sixties classic. The song was one of the first in pop music to use the word "God" in the title, which Wilson, co-founder of The Beach Boys, was nervous about at the time.
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"All of the artists did such a beautiful job I can't thank them enough," Wilson said in a statement obtained by The Guardian UK. "I'm just honored that 'God Only Knows' was chosen. 'God Only Knows' is a very special song. An extremely spiritual song and one of the best I've ever written."
The video, which garnered more than 1 millions views on YouTube within a day of release, is designed to raise money for BBC's Children In Need Charity. The organization helps disabled children and young people in the UK.
"God Only Knows" is a love song which contemplates life after the death of a loved one. The classic song has previously been covered by the likes of Bryan Adams, David Bowie and Elvis Costello among others.
"If you should ever leave me/Though life would still go on, believe me/The world could show nothing to me/So what good would livin' do me/God only knows what I'd be without you," the lyrics read.
On social networking site Twitter fans weighed in on the new video and "God Only Knows" began trending early Wednesday.
"Great to see celebs uniting for a good cause! Nice remake of 'God Only Knows,'" one user wrote.
"Fun video, great message! Lordes voice is exceptional in this," another tweeted.
"God Only Knows how they get away with that version. Total destruction of a great song !!," one seemingly unimpressed user wrote.
For a full list of artists featured in the music video CLICK HERE
