India's SONU NIGAM performs in UNICEF's 'World Version' of John Lennon's classic "Imagine"- Curated by David Guetta

Collaboration also features Katy Perry, Nicole Scherzinger, Will.I.AM, Adam Lambert, Neymar Jr, Priyanka Chopra and more as part of UNICEF’s global initiative for children 

On New Year’s Eve, John Lennon’s anthem to hope and peace, Imagine, took centre-stage in capitals across the world to help inspire a global movement towards a better future for every child.

Live performances of Imagine at New Year’s Eve events in Cape Town, London, Rio de Janeiro and New York highlighted urgent action needed to address key challenges facing children, including poverty, violence, the impact of climate change, and the barriers that prevent so many children from reaching their full potential.

One of the highlights of this high profile initiative is the ‘World Version’ video of the classic Lennon song, made in collaboration with renowned DJ and music producer David Guetta that features famous voices including India’s very own Sonu Nigam along with Katy Perry, Nicole Scherzinger, Will.I.Am, Adam Lambert, and other Indian personalities like UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Priyanka Chopra and Sunidhi Chauhan alongside voices of children from Bulgaria, the Philippines and Jamaica, among others.

Due to his mass popularity and successful career, Sonu Nigam was a welcome inclusion in the #IMAGINE video. Known as `The VOICE of Bollywood’, at just 42 years he has sung more than 10,000 film songs and has won over 40 mainstream awards including the prestigious ‘Filmfare’ and ‘National Film’ Awards for `Best playback Male Singer’. 

Speaking on his involvement in this prestigious initiative by UNICEF, Sonu Nigam said, “It feels great to be part of UNICEF’s initiative in support of children welfare the world over. This is indeed a very good and charitable cause and I fully support it. What makes it even more special is John Lennon’s iconic song "Imagine" which works beautifully for this cause.  It is Universal Music India who made my involvement in this global project from UNICEF possible, so a special thanks to them.”  

Says,Devraj Sanyal, Managing Director, Universal Music Group&EMI South Asia,“It’s very gratifying to have our country’s leading singer represented in something as large and impactful as this global UNICEF campaign. Sonu Nigam is one of the most talented singers I have ever met and his rendition of John Lennon’s iconic song “Imagine” is truly up there with the best International voices! Besides, to share the stage with leading personalities in music and entertainment on this David Guetta curated `world version’ is indeed epic…one that’s dedicated to a great charitable cause”.  

Participation in #IMAGINE involves three easy steps:

·         Download the #IMAGINETouchCast app for iOS via Apple's App Store, for Android at the Google Store. 

·         (2) Record your version of Imagine and add a messages describing the world you imagine for children

·         (3) Uploadyour video via social media.

For every upload, $1 is donated on your behalf by UNICEF partners to support UNICEF’s work for children around the world.  Share your recordings with friends with the hashtags #EVERYVOICECOUNTSand #IMAGINE.  

The UNICEF-led #IMAGINE initiative is joining forces with action/2015, a coalition of nearly 1,000 organizations from around the world that have come together to influence world leaders and inspire collective action in advance of key global agenda-setting meetings in 2015. These include the Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa in July, when governments and their partners will produce a global strategy for financing global development; the UN General Assembly in September, when world leaders will set out new development goals for the next 15 years; and the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in December. 

The World Version of Imagine is at:  http://touchcast.com/imagine 

About Universal Music India:

Universal Music India Pvt. Ltd. (UMIPL) is a 100% subsidiary of the Universal Music Group (UMG) and is home to record labels such as A&M Records, Blue Note Records, Capitol Records, Capitol Records Nashville, Caroline, Decca, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammophon, Emarcy, Geffen Records, Interscope Records, Island Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Records, Motown Records, Polydor Records, Republic Records, Universal Music Latino, Verve Music Group, Virgin Records, Virgin EMI Records.

UMIPL has an extremely rich Indian catalogue comprising songs from classic Hindi and Regional Films, IndiPop, Bhangra, Ghazals and Devotional. It’s enviable catalogue includes artistes such as Asha Bhosle, AnupJalota, Bombay Vikings, Jagjit Singh, JoSh, Malkit Singh, Pankaj Udhas, Panjabi MC, Raghav, MohitChouhan, Euphoria, Adnan Sami, Rabbi Shergill, RahatFateh Ali Khan to name a few. UMIPL `film’ catalogue (the 2nd largest in India) spans music from blockbusters such as Sholay, Qurbani, Amar Akbar Anthony, ChoriChoriChupkeChupke, Devdas and Munnabhai MBBS amongst the numerous jewels which symbolize the musical journey from the 70’s to date. On the International music front, UMIPL are the clear market leaders with artistes such as ABBA, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Enrique Iglesias, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, The Beatles, UB40, Deep Purple, Enigma, Norah Jones, Deadmau5, The Chemical Brothers, amongst host of others, popular music icons and household names in India.