Other performers

Mary J Blige Jon Bon Jovi Ozzy Osbourne Iggy Pop Stereophonics singer Kelly Jones Fun Lovin' Criminals Joe Cocker Chrissie Hynde Herbie Hancock Eric Idle Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt

All profits from the single will go to Children's Promise, a consortium of charities which is asking people to donate their final hour's wages from 1999 to children's charities.

The record was the brainchild of BBC radio football correspondent Mike Ingham and his wife Lorna Dickinson, and Dickinson spent much of the summer ringing agents and trying to persuade acts to appear on the single.

Producer Arthur Baker travelled around the world to record contributions to the single, and director Simon Rinkoff did the same to shoot the video on a shoestring over six weeks.

Annie Lennox also appears

All of the performers, who also include the Womack family, Lionel Ritchie, Jay Kay, and S Club 7, gave their services for free.

The Spice Girls have declined to issue a Christmas single of their own this year, even though they have dominated the Christmas charts since they first came to fame in 1996. They have scored three festive chart-toppers in a row with 2 Become 1, Too Much and last year's Goodbye.

It's Only Rock And Roll faces stiff competition for the Christmas number one. Also released on Monday is the Cuban Boys' much-hyped Cognoscenti Versus Intelligentsia - based on the music used on the Hamsterdance.com internet site.

Another possible novelty hit is Solid Gold Chartbusters' I Wanna 1-2-1 With You - featuring the sound of mobile phones ringing.

Star turn: Actor Robin Williams

Boy band Westlife have been widely tipped with their Abba cover I Have A Dream, as has a re-release of John Lennon's Imagine.

However, Sir Cliff Richard has to be toppled first - his Millennium Prayer is set for a third week at number one this weekend, and if it stays at the top the following week, it will also be the longest-serving number one of 1999.

Proceeds from Sir Cliff's single are also going to Children's Promise, which comprises the BBC's Children Need alongside Childline, The Children's Society, Comic Relief, NCH Action For Children, Barnardo's and the NSPCC.

A documentary about the making of It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, called Rock 'n' Roll In The Making, can be seen on BBC One on Sunday at 2300 GMT.