The Netflix documentary launches Monday with insights from Dionne Warwick, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, and more.
NEW YORK (AP) — Thirty-nine years ago, the biggest music stars in the world crammed into a recording studio in Los Angeles for an all-night session that they hoped might alter music history.
“We Are the World” was a 1985 charity single for African famine relief that included the voices of
The decision to pick that particular night to record the single was made in order to piggy-back off the influx of music royalty attending the American Music Awards, hosted by Richie, who performed twice and won six awards. The cream of the cream then made their way to the all-night recording session at A&M Studios.
Lauper, who dazzled everyone with her vocal prowess, was almost a no-show. Her boyfriend counseled her to skip the recording because he thought the single wouldn’t be a hit. But Richie told her: “It’s pretty important for you to make the right decision. Don’t miss the session tonight.”
Nottingham, the documentary producer, isn’t sure such a similar recording session with music superstars could ever happen these days, especially with ever-present social media and armies of assistants.
“It was very ahead of its time in terms of it being the ’80s and technology. But I would hope it would serve as an inspiration for other artists to keep trying and do these things for great causes.”
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The post ‘The Greatest Night in Pop’ explores the making of the classic ‘We are the World’ appeared first on TheGrio.
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