Arguably the best-known charity single in music history, and most star-studded for its time, “We Are the World” is the subject of a new documentary from Netflix titled The Greatest Night in Pop. Released this week on the streaming service, the film details the lead up to a single night in January 1985 when dozens of pop stars convened at a recording studio in Los Angeles to take part in a song that would help raise money for famine relief in Africa, more specifically Ethiopia.
Spearheaded by Harry Belafonte, who was inspired by the December 1984 UK charity track “Do They Know It’s Christmas” by the supergroup Band Aid, “We Are the World” was written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson with Quincy Jones handling production duties. Some of the names taking part in the all-nighter were Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, Kenny Rogers, Cyndi Lauper, Smokey Robinson, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Daryl Hall, John Oates and Paul Simon.
Collectively they were given the moniker USA for Africa.
Released in March 1985, “We Are the World” shot to the No. 1 spot on the charts in countries around the world and became the fastest-selling single of all time and remains one of the best-selling singles ever. Unsurprisingly, and despite a hastily penned sign by Jones at the entry to the studio which read – in all caps – “CHECK YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR,” whenever you get that many stars in one room, there were bound to be some dust ups, bruised feelings and rocky moments.
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And while not all the mysteries were cleared up around the song, for instance, why was Dan Aykroyd invited and who thought it was a good idea to let LaToya Jackson take part, there were some truly interesting nuggets divulged in The Greatest Night in Pop. Below are five of them. Spoilers ahead!
LIONEL RICHIE WORE ALL THE HATS
Only a handful of stars sat down for the new documentary, Springsteen, Lauper and Kenny Loggins among them, but like the song itself, it couldn’t have been made without Lionel Richie. The former Commodore was at the peak of his solo career in 1985, co-wrote “We Are the World,” and used his influence to bring in some of the big names.
But if that weren’t enough, on the night of the recording he not only hosted the American Music Awards, but dominated the proceedings, taking home six wins. He was also scrambling backstage, aware of the mountain to climb later, and had to put out fires like when Lauper said her boyfriend – who was her manager too – told her she shouldn’t do the song because it wouldn’t be a hit. Richie convinced her otherwise.
WHERE WAS MADONNA?
There was no shortage of high-profile artists in the mid-80s, and the goal was to get the biggest selling of them on the track to help move units. But some of the top tier ones seemed to be glaring omissions. The reason was quite simple: the majority of them were picked from that evening’s American Music Awards.
Yet there was Madonna at the AMAs, nominated and presenting an award. Central organizer Ken Kragen, however, wanted Lauper instead. Simply put: the Material Girl wasn’t invited.
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SHEILA E. FELT USED
Another performer who was conspicuous in his absence was Prince, especially as he had the biggest night at the AMAs next to Richie, taking home three awards and delivering a scorching rendition of “Purple Rain.” His protégé and sometimes girlfriend Sheila E. was there and had been slotted to sing a coveted verse on “We Are the World,” as opposed to just contributing to the chorus.
Throughout the evening, she was asked numerous times to call Prince and tell him to come to the studio. He said he would if he could perform a guitar solo, which was non-existent on the song. It became apparent that the Purple One wasn’t going to show up, and neither was Shelia E.’s opportunity to sing a verse, so she left.
“They never intended on having me sing a verse, which was a little bit…heartbreaking,” E. says in the doc.
AL JARREAU WAS A BIT TIPSY
Someone who did get a solo spot was R&B singer Al Jarreau. Yet each time his verse came up, he flubbed it. Maybe it was nerves. Maybe it was singing something relatively unfamiliar. And maybe it was the wine he was drinking during the session – by the bottle.
“Al wanted to celebrate, before we had done the song,” Richie says. “We had to work very hard to get Al’s part on before Al couldn’t remember what his part was.”
WAYLON JENNINGS WALKED OUT
At one point, Stevie Wonder started singing “We Are the World” in Swahili, trying to shoehorn the African language into the recording session, the rest of the performers looked baffled, and things quickly teetered on 3:00am chaos. Outlaw country pioneer Waylon Jennings decided it wasn’t what he signed up for and quietly walked out, overheard muttering a phrase along the lines of “Well, ain’t no good ol’ boy ever sung Swahili, I think I’m out of here.”
Someone pointed out that Ethiopians don’t even speak Swahili, while Band Aid organizer and “We Are the World” consultant Bob Geldof laid out reasoning that there was no point in singing in the language of those starving, but to “the people who’ve got the money to give.”
And give the public did. It is estimated that some $60 million – nearly $170 million in today’s money – was raised for famine relief due to the song, and the single sold around 20 million copies.
A version of this article appears in this week’s print and online editions of my syndicated Rock Music Menu column under the title “‘We Are the World’ documentary unveils stories behind hit charity single.“
The Chronicles of Michael Christopher 
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