American recording artists gather to record “We Are the World”
“Check your egos at the door.”
Quincy Jones sent out this special instruction to several dozen pop stars invited to participate in the recording of “We Are the World”. This record would eventually sell more than 7 million copies and raise more than $60 million for African famine relief. But before “We Are the World” could achieve those feats, it had to be captured on tape. No simple feat considering the number of major recording artists slated to participate. Jones had only one chance to get the recording the way he and songwriters Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie wanted it. He convened the marathon recording session of “We Are the World” around 10 p.m. on the evening of January 28, 1985. This immediately followed the American Music Awards ceremony held just a few miles away.
USA for Africa
Singer/actor/activist Harry Belafonte was the initiator of the events that led to the recording of “We Are the World.” He was inspired by the success of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” This charity record by the British-Irish collective Band Aid raised millions. Belafonte talked Lionel Ritchie, Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones into helping him organize an American response under the name USA for Africa.
Ritchie and Jackson wrote the song over the course of several days in January. Belafonte’s manager, Ken Kragen, came up with the plan to hold the session on the night of the AMA’s. This guaranteed that the greatest number of big names would be able to participate. Kragen would go on to serve as President of the USA for Africa Foundation. This nonprofit organization managed the profits from “We Are the World.”
Approximately 45 stars sang on “We Are the World” that night. Huge-in-the-80s figures included Cyndi Lauper and Huey Lewis. Country stars Kenny Rogers and Willie Nelson; pop icons Smokey Robinson, Tina Turner and Paul Simon; and musical giants Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and Bob Dylan. Also in the studio that night were half of the Jackson family and one Irishman (Bob Geldof, co-organizer of Band Aid). One party-crashing Canadian, comedian Dan Ackroyd participated. Egos fully in check, the group laid down the chorus and solos before sunrise on the 29th. “We Are the World” was in the stores and on the airwaves just five weeks later.
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I always wondered who determined who would get the solos!
That’s way to cool! I wonder if Tina Turner was dancing while they recorded 🙂
Remember it well! It was an amazing gathering of talent and an excellent collaboration. Eminently singable, it was an early example of an “ear-worm”–once in the brain, it stayed there for days, lol!
Thanks for that great information. What an amazing feat!