US folk singer Judy Collins leads 1000 voices of solidarity in pandemic

A thousand singers around the globe have answered Ringo Starr’s call to sing Amazing Grace with US folk doyenne Judy Collins as a sign of solidarity during the pandemic.

Judy Collins has re-recorded Amazing Grace with a virtual choir of 1000 voices in support of the World Health Organisation.

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A thousand singers around the globe have answered Ringo Starr’s call to sing Amazing Grace with US folk doyenne Judy Collins as a sign of solidarity during the pandemic.

This Global Virtual Choir’s version marks the 50th anniversary of Collins’s original recording and is out now with proceeds from its sale going to the World Health Organisation Solidarity Response Fund.

Scottish entertainer Alan Cumming and jazz, rock and country stars Judith Owen, Steve Earle, Madeleine Peyroux, Mandolin Orange and Tift Merritt are just some of the 1000 singers who participated in the event, along with internationally known choirs including The Sixteen, New York Choral Society, Voices International and GOA University Choir.

Since they laid down their harmonies individually from isolation, events have overtaken the song’s release with the death of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter groundswell of protest lending it a new poignancy. A song that unites in times of grief, crisis and tragedy, it has been performed at memorials for the 46-year-old black security guard who choked to death when a Minneapolis policeman knelt on his windpipe for almost nine minutes.

Collins’s single can be heard on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/7t4QGMZqufLZDcky2gl5gE?si=Lh3A9oncSdydBfPgLou05Q

All proceeds from its sale will go to the World Health Organisation Solidarity Response Fund: https://covid19responsefund.org/.

The hymn was written in 1772 by John Newton, an English slave ship captain turned preacher, and it was later set to music by American composer William Walker. Collins has recorded it several times, including a version with the bagpipes of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards which became a worldwide bestseller.