Young Artists for Haiti

In January 2010, a massive earthquake hit the nation of Haiti; it claimed the lives of 230,000 people and left nearly a million without homes. Eager to raise money for Haitian relief, veteran producer Bob Ezrin assembled a stellar lineup of Canadian pop and rock artists to record a benefit single. On February 18, 2010, the ad hoc group Young Artists for Haiti recorded a rewritten version of K'naan's international hit "Wavin' Flag" with appearances by Justin Bieber, Pierre Bouvier of Simple Plan, Drake, Nelly Furtado, Emily Haines of Broken Social Scene, Avril Lavigne, Corb Lund, Matt Mays, Kardinal Offishall, Sam Roberts, Deryck Whibley of Sum 41, and many others, including K'naan himself. The single was released on March 12, 2010 and was an immediate hit, rising to number one on the Canadian pop charts and selling three million copies in physical and digital form. The proceeds from the single were distributed to Free the Children, War Child Canada, and World Vision Canada.