Listen to Pharrell, Florence Welch, Lorde and others cover The Beach Boys
Lorde, Pharrell Williams, Stevie Wonder, Chris Martin, Sam Smith, Elton John and others combine to sing "God Only Knows".
Seventeen years after releasing the all-star cover of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day", the BBC have enlisted the help of Lorde, Pharrell, Chris Martin, Florence Welch, David Grohl and a whole list of other stars to cover the Beach Boys classic "God Only Knows".
The 2:49-minute song was created to help celebrate the launch of BBC Music - “an ambitious wave of new programmes, innovative partnerships and ground-breaking music initiatives that amount to the BBC’s strongest commitment to music in 30 years”, with a not-so-subliminal message for fans to keep supporting the BBC. The music video was filmed at the now-unused Alexandra Palace theatre in London, which hosted the first BBC broadcast more than 90 years ago.
As in 1997, the BBC gathered an overwhelming amount of stars for the project. Alongside Brian Wilson, the writer of "God Only Knows", are Sir Elton John (the only survivor from "Perfect Day"), One Direction, Stevie Wonder, Pharrell Williams. Jake Bugg, Lorde, Emeli Sandé, Chris Martin, Kylie Minogue, Paloma Faith, Sam Smith, Florence Welch, Chrissie Hynde, Brian May, Dave Grohl, Alison Balsom, Martin James Bartlett, Danielle de Niese, Nicola Benedetti, Eliza Carthy, Baaba Maal, Jamie Cullum, Jaz Dhami, as well as the BBC’s Zane Lowe, Lauren Laverne, Katie Derham, Gareth Malone and Jools Holland. They are joined by the Tees Valley Youth Choir and the BBC Concert Orchestra.
"God Only Knows" will be released as a single to raise money for the BBC’s Children in Need appeal. Its predecessor, "Perfect Day" raised more than £2m for the charity.
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