Jay-Z and U2, Plus Springsteen and 100-Plus Stars Join MTV's Haiti Benefit

Jay-Z will team up with Bono and the Edge for MTV's "Hope for Haiti" television special, airing commercial-free this Friday, January 22nd on MTV, VH1, CNN and every major network. Jay will perform with the U2 duo at a London venue for the special, and their collaboration has generated a new song, produced by Swizz Beatz, which will go on sale via iTunes in the near future, MTV reports.

Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Shakira and Rihanna have been added to the "Hope for Haiti" event, which will be co-hosted by George Clooney, Anderson Cooper and Wyclef Jean. Dave Matthews Band, Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys, Sting, Christina Aguilera, Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Jennifer Hudson and Mary J. Blige will also perform on the show; all proceeds raised will benefit Oxfam America, Partners in Health, Red Cross, UNICEF and Wyclef's Yéle Haiti Foundation. According to MTV, more than 100 stars have also signed on for the special.

Talking about U2's partnership with Jay-Z, the Edge told Ireland's 2FM, "Bono got a call from a producer, Swizz. He and Jay-Z wanted to do something for Haiti. So, Bono came up with the phrase on the phone, and last night we wrote a song — finished, recorded, and sent it back to them." Jay-Z previously teamed with U2 during November's MTV European Music Awards, when he added a verse to "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and lead a sing-along of Bob Marley's "Get Up Stand Up" with Bono.

Find out more about how music's biggest names are responding to the devastating earthquake in Haiti:

• Dave Matthews Band, Lady Gaga and More Stars Rock to Aid Haiti
• Wycelf Jean Defends Yéle Haiti at Emotional NYC Press Conference

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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