Aussie rocker Garrett won't join climate change song

Left-wing rocker turned Australian environment minister Peter Garrett said Tuesday he would not join 55 world celebrities in reprising one of his greatest hits in the name of climate change.

The former Midnight Oil frontman said he and the band had collaborated with the Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum on a revamp of their 1980s hit "Beds Are Burning", but would not take part in the recording.

"The band were obviously aware of it and were happy to contribute to (the song) being reworked," a spokesman for Garrett told AFP.

"While the minister loved getting back on stage for the recent Sound Relief concerts (for bushfire victims) and absolutely supports the cause this time, he won't be taking part in this new recording," he added.

Once an anti-nuclear campaigner and activist rocker, Garrett shed his radical image to run for parliament in 2004.

Some fans, and the country's conservative opposition, have accused Garrett of selling out on issues such as nuclear energy and conservation since he joined the centre-left Labor party and became environment minister.

The shaven-headed singer, who stands at an imposing 193 centimetres (six foot four inches), has returned to the stage only a handful of times since entering politics to raise funds for Asian tsunami and Australian bushfire victims.

British rock group Duran Duran and heavy metal band Scorpions are among the celebrities who have signed onto the "tck tck tck" project, which aims to draw attention to the urgency of the global warming crisis.

Other popular artists who will add their voices to the recording include French actress Marion Cotillard, Senegalese star Youssou N'Dour, Irish singer/composer Bob Geldof, Chinese singer Khalil Fong, and even Nobel Peace Prize winner, South African archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The Forum, headed by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, will release the song for free download on the Internet and is expected to launch it to the public in Paris on October 1.