Lionel Richie found it difficult to conceive bringing back the enchantment of the night “We Are the World” came together on January 28, 1985.
The charity song, which Richie and Michael Jackson co-wrote to raise money for famine relief in Africa, began as a modest project but quickly grew into a huge one that involved getting 46 of the world’s biggest musicians together to record in one session.
Entertainment manager Ken Kragen recruited a number of well-known singers, including Ray Charles, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, and Cyndi Lauper, to contribute to the commercially successful pop single. The song peaked at number one on the charts, won four Grammy Awards, and raised over $80 million for charitable causes.
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When asked how he pulled it off, Richie attributed the unusual occurrence to “naivety.”
“There were no outside distractions,” he said to News. “There was no Internet, there was no cellphones, there was nothing but purity of a thought, an idea and how to get it done.”
Michael Omartian and Quincy Jones produced the song, which Richie recalled being written with Jackson.
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“At the beginning, there was no terror at all because we had no deadline,” he stated. “Whenever you could write it, we could write it, it’s no problem.”
