Hope for Haiti

A charity album featuring performances from the Hope For Haiti Now telethon has gone straight to number one in the US album chart.

The compilation album is the first digital-only release to top the Billboard 200 chart. The album sold 171,000 copies, music sales tracker Nielsen Soundscan said.

The disaster relief telethon, featuring performances from stars including Jay-Z, Madonna and U2, has so far raised $66m (£40.6m), organizers say. Last week's show, which was broadcast from New York, Los Angeles, London and Haiti, was watched on TV by 83 million viewers in the US alone.

Wyclef Jean performs at "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief", on Friday, Jan. 22, 2010 in New York. It was shown on all major US TV channels, YouTube and on MTV in the UK. Haitian-born rapper Wyclef Jean - who set up the charity foundation Yele Haiti - Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J Blige, Rihanna and Stevie Wonder were among other performers.

Meanwhile, producer Quincy Jones has announced he is re-recording 1985 charity song We Are The World to raise money for the aid effort in Haiti. The original, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie to raise money for African famine relief, featured stars including Cyndi Lauper, Billy Joel and Tina Turner.

Jones has not revealed who will perform on the new version, which is set to be recorded in Los Angeles on Monday. As many as 200,000 people died in the 12 January earthquake in Haiti.