Justin Bieber Partners With NHS Choir On ‘Holy’ In Bid For UK Christmas No. 1

Justin Bieber has teamed with the NHS Choir that beat him to the 2015 Christmas No. 1, which he encouraged fans to buy instead of his own single.

In 2015, Bieber’s hit single “Love Yourself” and the choir’s “A Bridge Over You” went head-to-head in an attempt to achieve that year’s festive hit.

However, Bieber urged his followers to “do the right thing” and help the choir reach the top of the singles chart over his own song.

The pop star has since reached out to the choir to perform a version of his single, “Holy”, this year, as the choir aims to raise money for an NHS charity. If they succeed, the profits will be split between NHS Charities Together and the choir’s local NHS trust charity.

This year’s cover was recorded by the choir at London’s Abbey Road Studios. Bieber said he was “humbled” to work with them.

He said: “It’s great to be reunited with the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS choir, as we share a fun bit of UK chart history together. Especially in these difficult times, I’m humbled to team up with them for a charity single that will benefit NHS workers on the frontlines of this pandemic and pay tribute to their unbelievable dedication.”

Reunited after their 2015 Christmas chart battle, @justinbieber and @Choir_NHS have joined forces for a special new version of Bieber’s top 10 UK hit ‘Holy’.

It’s all to raise money for @NHSCharities and our Charity – let’s get it to number 1 for the #NHS! #NHSBieber4XmasNo1 pic.twitter.com/RdZhHjUB92

— Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust (@LG_NHS) December 13, 2020

Choir leader Caroline Smith, a children’s community physiotherapist, had previously met Bieber and helped to organise the choir’s performance at Glastonbury Festival.

“It’s really exciting,” she said of the single. “It was really difficult to keep the secret!”

She said that upon receiving a message from Bieber’s team asking whether the choir would be interested in collaborating, she wasn’t sure if it was real.

“People haven’t had much time to think about anything else outside of work, so to get an opportunity like this was lovely,” she told The Independent.

“To walk into Abbey Road… it was beautiful, and [the choir] hadn’t seen each other in so long. It reminded me how talented everyone in the choir is, and hearing it played back with Justin’s vocals was amazing.”

She said that she was “so grateful” to Bieber and his team for reaching out after what has been “an incredibly tough year”.

“When you get a moment to stop and think, it has been a devastating year for a lot of people,” she said, commenting on how the song fit with the year’s theme of helping to support one another.

“Friends, family and colleagues have been so important, and the song seems to fit that theme of those people helping you get through,” she said.

She also said that the choir wanted to do something to thank people in the NHS, as well as the general public for supporting key workers through the pandemic.

“It’s a suitable song,” she said. “It can be interpreted in different ways – from a personal side, I wanted to sing it because it was a way of showing appreciation. We wanted to say thank you and do something for NHS Charities Together and the NHS trust charity.”

“Holy” by Justin Bieber and the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir is released on Friday 18 December.

Listen to the best of Justin Bieber here.