D-Day Veteran Outsells Ed Sheeran And Taylor Swift With World War II Tribute Song

He was the youngest of three brothers, all of whom served in the British Merchant Navy.

At the time of the storming, he was a galley boy serving on a tug boat, and was able to join the war effort because tug boat companies did not have to abide to the Merchant Navy rule which said recruits had to be 16 years old or order.

In an interview with ABC News, the now 90-year-old Radford explained that during the storming, soldiers weren't thinking about their duty to their country.

"Your main concern is not to let your comrades down," he said. "You're not thinking about king or country, you're not thinking about democracy. You're thinking about, 'My mates depend on me, as I depend on them.'"

The global organization is made up of military veterans and allies who work together to "inform the public of the true causes of war and the enormous costs of wars."

At that time, it was the 25th anniversary of the invasion.

This year marks the 75th, and Radford's song has been released by the Normandy Memorial Trust to raise funds for a new memorial on the same beach where so many lost their lives.

He said that revisiting the beach was an incredibly emotionaal moment for him.

"I remember [D-Day] very clearly, but I thought I'd got it all in perspective and I wasn't going to be emotional about it," he said in a video on the Normandy Memorial Trust website. "It wasn't until I went back, saw the children playing on the beach, that I was sort of overwhelmed with recollection of what I've seen and moved to tears by the contrast, as a lot of veterans were."

Recalling the devastating events of the invasion and those men who were lost is difficult for Radford. He told CNN it's also taken him a long time to be able to sing it in public because it is such "a powerful recollection" for him.

The poignant ballad honors those who died in Normandy and describes the events of the invasion, from the actual storming to the legacy it has left behind.

"As the years pass by, I can still recall the men I saw that day," Radford sings, "Who died upon that blood-soaked sand, where now sweet children play."

The video shows the D-Day vet dressed in his regalia as he sings the sobering song, overlapped with footage of the storming paralleled with clips of the beach in present day.

The single has beat out other popular artists for number one spot, including Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber.

"I'm obviously delighted and extremely surprised to be at No. 1 on this particular chart, and I hope it does well because the more copies are downloaded, the more money we'll have to pay for this wonderful memorial we're building here," he said in a statement to CNN.

French President Emmanuel Macron was also present for the inauguration, where joined May in laying wreaths at the Foundation Stone and the D-Day Sculpture, designed by British sculptor David Williams-Ellis.