Almost 41 years after its recording, the legendary charity hit We are the World is in the news again, thanks to the documentary’s upcoming premiere Pop’s biggest night.
It will premiere on January 19th at the Sundance Film Festival and coming to Netflix on January 29th.
The film relives the recording session of January 25, 1985, where a true dream team of music stars they met in the same recording studio to make a song in favor of hunger in Africa.
The list of artists included Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel and Cyndi Lauper.
The famous album cover photo, featuring most of the artists from “We are the world”.In total they were more than 40 artists, including a choir made up of none other than Bette Midler, LaToya Jackson, Harry Belafonte, Dan Aykroyd and Bob Geldof, among others. The outfit became known as USA For Africa.
A global success
The idea of We are the World It initially came to Harry Belafonte’s mind, after seeing the success of the charity Christmas single by British personalities under the name Band Aid, whose success was Do they know it’s Christmas?.
The song It was registered on January 28, 1985 in Los Angeles, it topped the Billboard charts for four weeks and was certified quadruple platinum. It ultimately sold more than 7.5 million copies and won four Grammy Awards..
The release included a single, an album, a video clip, a VHS video, a magazine, several books, posters and t-shirts. In total, success and merchandising They raised more than $60 million.
New material
Pop’s biggest night promises to deliver a new perspective and new materialwith details on the unprecedented meeting of so many musical icons in the same studio.
The song was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie in the Jackson family home in the Encino neighborhood. Together with Stevie Wonder they recorded a first version at Kenny Rogers’ Lion Share studio on January 21st. Producer Quincy Jones immediately sent copies to all the artists involved.
Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen in “We Are the World”. Press photo.The recording was made on the same day with all soloists and choir, accompanied by famous session musicians on guitar, drums, keyboards, bass and string instruments.
One fact that many attendees remember is that the event took place on the same evening that, a few hours earlier, the American Music Awards were presented, several artists arriving around the clock.
Another famous anecdote is that on the door of the A&M recording studios they put a sign that said: “Leave your ego on the outside”.
Memories of Lionel Richie
“It was a magical moment. When they called me, I was interested in the idea and the first thing I did was call Quincy Jones,” the famous singer told the program. The Violafrom TN, in 2016.
“His response was immediate, he told me ‘I have Michael next to him and he says yes’. Everything was done very quickly. I was lucky enough to bring together great figures in music and in one day we managed to record the song. Social networks did not exist and everyone discovered the project. “It’s one of the most important songs I’ve ever made.”
Lionel Ritchie, one of the composers and architects of the USA For Africa project. Regarding the call to great figures of American music, Lionel Richie recalled: “It was a miracle. I told Quincy it was all very messy and he said we had to clean it up. It helped me a lot to have each of those great figures in music.”
Source: Clarin
