 "Hey You" was initially released as a free download for a period of seven days before being made available as a regular digital single.Once it had been released as a regular digital single, it entered the lower reaches of the sales charts of a few countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland.Madonna only performed the song once at the Live Earth concert, London, where she was joined by a choir of school children who provided backing vocals to her singing while the backdrops displayed images relevant to the song's message, like natural devastations, different cultures and political leaders.