London Community Gospel Choir

The anthemic hymn Abide with Me has resounded around FA Cup Finals since 1927.  This year a gospel choir and the ‘religion’ of football are united with The FA inviting The London Community Gospel Choir to perform at Wembley Stadium on May 30th before Everton take on Chelsea.

The London Community Gospel Choir can already be heard singing this enduring anthem on all ITV’s FA Cup coverage and they have now recorded a special version to be released as a single for Cup Final week. All profits from the release will go to The FA’s official charity partner, Everyman, and their joint initiative Keep Your Eye on the Ball which raises awareness of prostate and testicular cancers within the football community.

Ambassador Teddy Sheringham says of the charity: "Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men aged 15 to 44 while prostate cancer is the biggest killer of men over 50 - that's a huge portion of football fans in the UK. I want to encourage men to put as much attention into their health as they do their football so we can beat these diseases".

Corine Pouvreau Miles, Promotions Director at ITV Global Entertainment said “The official ITV Sport’s FA Cup anthem ‘Abide with Me’ is loved by millions of fans around the world.  We have been receiving masses of requests at ITV.com from these fans who want to buy the song, so we’re delighted to be announcing that we are releasing the newly recorded London Community Gospel Choir version for Cup Final week, with proceeds going to the Everyman charity.”

To buy the single, go to www.apple.com/itunes and search for ‘Abide with Me London’, or follow the link on the FA Cup pages of www.itv.com.

Formed in 1982, The London Community Gospel Choir has fast become one of the most popular choirs in the world.  In addition to performing with the likes of Madonna, Elton John, George Michael and Paul McCartney they also recorded the soundtrack to hit Disney movie The Lion King, graced the nation’s TV screens on X-Factor shows, and have been invited to sing all over the world  - including Wayne Rooney’s wedding in Italy.

The new version of Abide with Me also features a stunning opening solo by 13 year-old James Donaghey.  James is already a West End star, currently starring as Oliver in the eponymous hit musical, and previously as Kurt Von Trapp in The Sound of Music.

This glorious new recording will be premiered on BBC1’s Songs of Praise on May 24th, the start of The FA’s Cup Final week.  Radio Five Live’s match day coverage will begin with a performance from the London Community Gospel Choir before they travel to Wembley to take to the pitch before kick-off.

The music has been put together by Rick Blaskey, whose company The Music and Media Partnership has created the official music for previous ITV coverage of the FIFA World Cup and the IRB Rugby World Cup, as well as the official music for European championships, the Olympics and many other major sporting events.