It was 40 years ago today that celebrities gathered in Hollywood to record what would become one of the best selling singles of all-time, “We Are the World” by USA for Africa.
Inspired by Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, Harry Belafonte and super agent Ken Kragen enlisted the help of Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie to write the song and on the night of January 28th, 1985 following the American Music Awards, some of the biggest stars gathered to record “We Are the World”.
It really is a who’s who of music royalty. Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Steve Perry, Huey Lewis and the list goes on. The song was a #1 hit in multiple countries around the world and raised $80 million dollars for famine relief in Ethiopia and Africa.
If you haven’t seen the documentary “The Greatest Night in Pop” which features the night of the recording, I highly recommend it. I believe it’s showing on Netflix.
Happy 40th USA For Africa, check out the video of “We Are the World” today’s Forgotten 45.
