BARNSLEY actor Shaun Dooley has raised the bar by recording an entire album featuring his celebrity friends in aid of Children In Need.
Shaun, who has starred in Misfits, The Woman in Black and more recently on BBC’s Gentleman Jack, first had the idea to create an album for Children In Need two years ago.
Having only been in a recording studio once, Shaun set about making his idea a reality and called upon his celebrity friends to complete the line up.
“I sung The Power of Love while I was on Misfits a few years ago,” said Shaun, 45. “I came out of the experience feeling brilliant but frightened and I thought about making an album for charity.
“I first put the idea to Jodie Whittaker while we were filming Dr Who because my reasoning was that she will make or break the project. If Jodie was on board I would go ahead with it but if she wasn’t bothered I would let the project slide. Luckily she jumped at the chance.”
Shaun gathered his line-up of nine other actors to perform on the album - Got It Covered - including Jim Broadbent, Olivia Colman, Helena Bonham-Carter and Luke Evans.
“I chose a Taylor Swift song called Never Grow Up because I sing it to my kids before they go to sleep,” Shaun added. “When Taylor wrote it, it was about her not wanting to grow up but I looked at the song from a parent’s perspective and how I didn’t want my kids to grow up too fast and to stay children for as long as possible.
“My kids mean everything to me so it was a really personal song to sing on the album and since it’s in aid of Children in Need it worked really well.”
While they were recording at the famous Abbey Road Studio in London, Shaun was surprised with a visit from Taylor Swift who offered her support to the album.
“I was in the recording booth singing a Taylor Swift song and she surprised me by coming down to the recording studio,” he said. “That was the scariest moment of the whole production process because I had to sing one of her own songs in front of her. She said she liked it which was a relief.
“It’s been really great making this album. I think if you’re in a position to give something back then you should and I think we need to do more of that. Children In Need is such a great charity and I am a dad myself so it felt right making the album for that cause.”
Shaun admits that he has raised the bar as previously only a single has been released for Children in Need.
“We have set the bar very high,” he said. “I think it will be worth it to raise money. Maybe I’ll do another album, but I think to top this I will need to do a stage show or something.”
Get It Covered will be available to buy or stream from today. To buy a copy visit Asda or all major supermarkets and to stream search ‘Get It Covered’ on Spotify, iTunes or Amazon.
