Carrie Underwood’s performance of The Pretenders “I’ll Stand By You” debuted at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on Thursday. The song was performed at last week’s American Idol “Idol Gives Back” television show.
This is the first time that an iTunes Exclusive single — not available on CD or from any other provider — has debuted in the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100. According to Apple, more than 100,000 audio downloads of “I’ll Stand By You” were purchased in less than a week.
In addition to Underwood’s success, the top three selling music videos on iTunes are also from the “Idol Gives Back” show.
The special was put on to raise awareness and funds for children and young people living in extreme poverty in the United States and Africa. Celebrities that participated in the event included Celine Dion, Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani, Earth, Wind & Fire, Il Divo, Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant, Josh Groban with the African Children’s Choir, Jack Black, Helen Mirren, Rascal Flatts, Quincy Jones, Carrie Underwood, Annie Lennox and others.
All proceeds from the iTunes sales went to charity — the total amount of money raised is around $70 million dollars.