Simon Cowell rallies stars for charity single, donates $175k to Grenfell Tower fire victims

Simon Cowell has donated £100,000 (NZ$175,300) to the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.

The 57-year-old music mogul was left feeling "angry and upset" when he saw footage of the shocking inferno - which killed over 70 people - in west London last week and was driven to do more than just hand over some cash in order to help those affected by the tragedy.

Discussing the inspiration behind his star-studded charity single - he said: "I felt how everyone felt when they saw the news. I was angry, upset, thinking what the hell do you do?"

"It's not far from where I live, so when I drove up there, and you saw this tower, it wasn't great.

"And that's when you decide that maybe we could do something to help.

"You kind of think, what can I do? Do you donate some money and I was thinking, well maybe we could do a little more than that and that's how the record came about.

"I have to put my money where my mouth is. In all the years of doing this I have never felt so emotional. It was unbelievably powerful and sincere."

Simon has enlisted the likes of Robbie Williams, Liam Payne, Stormzy, Paloma Faith, and Leona Lewis to appear on the record, a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water, and he revealed it took around 12 hours to choose the song because he felt the track had the appropriate lyrics.

He told the Mirror Online: "It is a great song to send out a message of support and once we decided on that, we had to get the artists."

While the X Factor boss was appalled by the tragic fire, he has been heartened by the sense of community displayed and how much people have wanted to help the victims.

He said: "The one word that comes to mind is community. I'm currently up in Liverpool and people are talking about it here and wherever you are around the country.

"Even Nile Rodgers, legendary record producer, he turned up because he heard about it so it is not just a British thing or a London thing.

"It is a worldwide thing. And like I've said before, it was avoidable."

It took just three days to pull the record together and Simon is very proud of what they have produced.

He said: "When I heard the record, it is extraordinary. It is very personal, emotional, it means something, it is sincere and it intends to do, what we decided to do, raise money and show support."

You can download the single here.

- Bang! Showbiz