Alicia Keys and Bono have recorded Peter Gabriel's 'Don't Give Up' to benefit families in Africa living with AIDS. It's exclusively available as a download from iTunes with proceeds going to the charity Keep A Child Alive.

Keys and Bono first performed the track earlier this month at The Black Ball, the annual fundraiser for Keep A Child Alive (KCA), in New York City.

'I love this song.' says Keys, 'And I love Bono. I really respect what he has done for Africa and how he has used his fame to do good in the world. I hope I can do half as much in my life.'

Keep A Child Alive is a non-profit organization providing lifesaving AIDS medicines directly to children and families with HIV/AIDS. Keys, who serves as Global Ambassador, calls the campaign 'my passion and my heartfelt mission.'

'I believe AIDS is the most important issue we face,' she says. 'Because how we treat the poor is a reflection of who we are as a people. I urge everyone to recognize the extreme disaster Africa is facing and step up for the Motherland.'

Peter Gabriel originally recorded the song as a duet with Kate Bush for his 1986 album 'So'. The duet between Alicia and Bono, now renamed "Don't Give Up (Africa), is launched today (Thursday) to mark World AIDS Day.

The song on it will be available for download from iTunes next week on December 6th.

Meantime, you can hear Bono and Alicia performing the song and watch a stunning video piece that goes with it on the Keep A Child Alive site right now. (The song is amazing and the video is just as powerful.)

'It felt like a song meant to be recorded for Africa and I had been thinking about it for years,' said Leigh Blake, KCA Founder and President. 'I knew this duet was going to be something special but true magic happened in that studio when Alicia and Bono came together.
'It came from their hearts directly to the African people and you can really hear that compassion in the song.'

Both Keys and Bono are longtime advocates in raising awareness of the global AIDS pandemic: in Africa alone there are currently 12 million AIDS orphans but less than 5% of the population have access to life saving anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment. KCA funds AIDS clinics to provide ARV treatment and services across the continent.

'Don't Give Up (Africa)' urges the public to give a dollar a day (or whatever they can afford) to pay for the essential antiretroviral drugs that African families need through Keep a Child Alive and also to sign the One Petition.

To buy on iTunes in the UK, click here and in the USA click here.
For all other countries visit your local iTunes store.

More ABOUT KEEP A CHILD ALIVE here.

More ABOUT THE ONE CAMPAIGN here.