Back in 1985, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and more combined forces for USA for Africa to release one of the world’s most profitable charity songs of all time, “We Are the World.”
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Well, as it turns out, according to the just released trailer for brand new Netflix doc, The Greatest Night in Pop, we learn that the track was actually incredibly close to not happening, until Stevie Wonder came to the rescue.
“The greatest artists of a generation came together to save some lives. But we only had one night to get this right,” Richie recalls in the trailer. “I received this call from Harry Belafonte and he wants to do some kind of song for famine relief in Africa. Basically what he says is, ‘I need you.’”
Accompanying archival footage, featuring other iconic musicians on the track, Quincy Jones, Cyndi Lauper and several others cramped together in a small studio, Richie went on to explain that actual lyrics for the track didn’t come together until Stevie Wonder joined the project. “I’m at the house with Michael writing the song. He hums every part, tapes and tapes of just layers and layers of him humming,” he said. “Stevie wouldn’t call me back and the recording was in a couple of days. We now have a template with mumbles and no words – what are we gonna do? We’re talking to the world, so we have to talk this out.”
The documentary, as the official synopsis for the film reads, follows the group of 45 all-star musicians, who gathered together January 25, 1985, and “checked their egos at the door and recorded a song to benefit African famine relief that would alter global pop culture history.”
The Greatest Night in Pop promises never-before-seen footage of the song’s planning and writing process, as well as Henson Studios were the recording of the track took place.
In addition to Richie’s interviews, Springsteen, Lauper, Smokey Robinson, Kenny Loggins, Dionne Warwick and Huey Lewis will also tell their side of the story, reminiscing on the historic night, just as they remember it.
After first premiering at Sundance Film Festival on January 19, The Greatest Night in Pop will arrive on Netflix on January 29.
Check out the trailer below.