Lionel Richie - 0:26 Stevie Wonder - 0:39 Paul Simon - 0:43 Kenny Rogers - 0:53 James Ingram - 0:59 Tina Turner - 1:06 Billy Joel - 1:13 Michael Jackson - 1:19 Diana Ross - 1:32 Dionne Warwick - 1:48 Willie Nelson - 2:02 Al Jarreau - 2:09 Bruce Springsteen - 2:15 Kenny Loggins - 2:21 Steve Perry - 2:28 Daryl Hall - 2:36 Huey Lewis - 2:48 Cyndi Lauper - 2:54 Kim Carnes - 3:02 Bob Dylan - 3:48 Ray Charles - 4:27
Yes those are the timestamps on the original video. Also, there are other artists there but not singing a main part such as John Oates, Smokey Robinson and Bette Midler just to name a few
For me, that is one of my least favorites, of her more popular 80's songs. Still liked it of course, it was rather catchy. That might be a guy thing though. Loved her version of 'I Drove All Night'. Also thought she did well in the movie, Vibes.
It makes you realise how old you are when people don't know Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Smokey Robinson, Quincy Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Lionel Richie, Bette Midler & Dan Aykroyd.
Someone posted on another reaction to this, who is the guy with the shiny glove? Time rolls on, and all too soon will roll over those of us who know who all those folks are.
@@deanroddey2881 Yeah, I have seen black Americans who have no idea who Diana Ross & Stevie Wonder are. Bisscute at least has a reason-being from a country where likely these artists aren't that well known.
At 3:45, you said, "Imagine harmonizing with Michael." That was Diana Ross, original lead singer for The Supremes (the greatest girl group ever!!!), with a great career as a solo artist, who just happens to be credited with "discovering" The Jackson Five & bringing them to the attention of the head of Motown Records. Believe me, MJ was thrilled & delighted, & honored, to be harmonizing with her!!
I was watching Facts of iLife today where Tootie went as Diana Ross to a costume party and said there were 14 other Diana Rosses there then im thinking watching these reactions most don’t recognize Diana. Everyone recognizes Michael Jackson tho and many recognize Bruce but many others no clue.
This was a one NIGHT thing. Lionel Richie hosted and many of the other artists came straight from one of the big awards shows, Grammy’s or some such. They had one night to get this in. No rehearsal prior. There’s a Netflix documentary recently out that tells the story. The funniest story from it is Ray Charles arrived and said he was ready to go, just needed to use the restroom. Of all people Stevie Wonder piped up and said “I know where it is, I’ll take you!” Someone noted “Well, now I’ve seen EVERYTHING!….. The blind leading the blind!”
The sun was rather high in the sky before they wrapped. It was filmed and recorded in a famous but relatively small but famous LA studio. These are some of the biggest, most impactful artists of their day. Just getting it to come together was enormous. These are stars you have to give at least 6 months notice to to get them to change their schedules. The song wasn’t finished being written until just a few days prior. In the documentary, Lionel talks about trying to write it with Michael and Michael’s chimp ‘Bubbles’ kept interfering and Michael’s snake was freaking Lionel out. They had to get the studio but keep it absolutely secret or any one of these artists would draw huge paparazzi. So many stars but so little space that each artist was allowed a single assistant only in the outside room, no assistants in the recording area. The documentary tells a funny story that all the stars are sort of standing around awkwardly until Sheila E broke the ice, walked nervously up to Darryl Hall and asked for his autograph. After that, the artists all sort of relaxed and started mingling and letting their guard down. Sheila E left early, though, because the producers kept coming up and asking if she’d call Prince and get him to come. She felt used. Prince and Michael HATED each other.
@@allendesalme197 I did and they did. Never said they didn’t. In the documentary they said rehearsals were on a ‘beginning to end’ style. They’d start with the first people/beginning of the song and go….. but when anyone messed up, they’d start over. The ones at the end of the song were like, “You never get to us, so we don’t get a chance.” On Huey Lewis, Cyndi and….. Lindsey Buckingham???? Not sure of the 3rd….. Huey came up with the three part harmony on his own and they just did it that way, no input from Quincy or anyone.
@@allendesalme197 Stevie wanted to rehearse singing in some African dialect…. that’s not even Ethiopian and after one or two goes, Waylon Jennings left.
Who's that? Who's that?!? WHO'S THAT?!? They're simply the best voices of the 80s, that along with the 90s will forever be the best 2 decades in music industry.
When this song came out I was young. Now that I am older, I notice that the older folks in this video seem to be the ones totally immersed with their entire being. Age and experience gives you something that just can not be achieved in our youth.
I guess it evens up-because I wouldn't recognise most of the people considered stars nowadays if you got them all together in a room. Even those I do know visually like Taylor Swift & Ed Sheeran I honestly couldn't even sing or hum any of their songs-because they are so bland & unmemorable.
@@nthsum5509 Not really-because most of the artists are still around making music & on television like Springsteen, Dylan, Joel etc, have had biopics made about them like Ray Charles, are mammothly famous/legendary like MJ, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, or are being watched by reaction channels/having hits like Steve Perry with re-releases. The artists from the 1940's & 1950's-mostly big bands were mostly gone by the late 1950's as the industry changed, lots of young deaths in plane & car crashes, death by alcoholism etc.
@@daveborder7751 A) How many of them released a Number 1 hit during her lifetime? Peter Noon was still touring during the 90s. That doesn't mean that 90s kids new who Herman's Hermits was. B) This woman is educating herself as fast as she can. In a second language. We should probably cut her some slack if she doesn't know who Hall and Oates are.
@@nthsum5509 only I would...Yes you nailed the whole point of that subject. I feel like a musical mseum care taker lol. I'm a former school music teacher. When the young and most of the public in the USA have no idea who George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Mozart, the Beatles, Motown. Tony Bennett etc were and their music, we have become a musically ignorant nation. Music appreciation classes and school music classes are always cut first in school budgets, but you'll never see a weed growing in a football stadium. I say BRAVO to young reactors who are learning about music outside of their comfort zone of cororatev radio playlist poisoning their musical judgement by repetition.
You're the only reactor I've seen who didn't like Cyndi Lauper in this song. Her performance here usually gets one of the top praises. This recording was done on the same day as that year's American Music Awards where she performed. Definitely check out her hits such as "Time After Time", "All Through the Night", "True Colors", etc...
Ok so first of all, LOVE Cyndi Lauper! But I'll be honest, when I think of Cyndi Lauper's We Are the World performance "top praises" isn't the first thing I think of, I instantly think of all the memes of Michael Jackson annoyed at her and Huey Lewis' singing 😂 Not hating, just can't watch without chuckling lol
@@omarjimenez8895 Cyndi didn't like the song, and she wasn't the only one. But I was watching the documentary and Lionel said that the song is meant to be elevated by the artists, and they definitely did. If he were to sing this as just a duet with MJ, it would've probably ended up like "Heal the World".
To give you some idea of just how big the artists were in that room, the folks who actually sang the verses (as opposed to the choir who sang the refrain) have 160 GRAMMY AWARDS between them. They were huge when this was recorded, and they've continued to influence the artists who are huge today.
I watched the documentary on how We Are the World was made. Amazing. Number one was getting all the stars together at once. Several stars were shy and had a hard time being with their peers, no agents, assistants, or entourages were allowed, only stars. The location had to be secret so no press or paparazzi would show up. They sung the chorus first and that took five hours so some stars were frustrated and tempers got heated. The next part were the solos and they did rehearse with a piano and Stevie Wonder played it. Bob Dylan had a real hard time with the solos. Stevie had to sing like Bob so he could get an idea how to sing his part. Kudos to Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, and Quincy Jones for putting it all together.
I enjoy hearing your opinions even when I disagree. 😉 I loved Cyndi Lauper in this, and everything else she does for that matter. Here are the solo singers in order of appearance: Lionel Richie - 0:26; Stevie Wonder - 0:39; Paul Simon - 0:43; Kenny Rogers - 0:53; James Ingram - 0:59; Tina Turner - 1:06; Billy Joel - 1:13; Michael Jackson - 1:19; Diana Ross - 1:32; Dionne Warwick - 1:48; Willie Nelson - 2:02; Al; Jarreau - 2:09; Bruce Springsteen - 2:15; Kenny Loggins - 2:21; Steve Perry - 2:28; Daryl Hall - 2:36; Huey Lewis - 2:48; Cyndi Lauper - 2:54; Kim Carnes - 3:02; Bob Dylan - 3:48; Ray Charles - 4:27 Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote the song and worked with producer Quincy Jones to get everything ready. Then all of the artists arrived after attending an awards show that they were all in town for, and they worked on it all night until morning. They didn't know the song in advance, but they did multiple takes. It's so cute that you didn't know who most of them were, although I realize this was way before your time and from a different country. They all have songs that you should react to. Lionel Richie was from The Commodores and also had a great solo career. Paul Simon was from Simon and Garfunkel. Daryl Hall was from Hall & Oates . Diana Ross was from The Supreme. She helped The Jackson Five get started and Michael Jackson idolized her. It's been suggested that he had plastic surgery on his nose to try to make it look like hers. There were lots of great artists in the chorus too. It's a shame that more of them couldn't have had solo parts.
SIAP, performed after an award show when all the singers where in L.os Angeles. Director Quincy Jones put a note on the door, "Leave your egos at the door."
1:33 Lionel Richie 1:45 Stevie Wonder 1:50 Paul Simon 2:00 Kenny Rogers 2:07 James Ingram 2:13 Tina Turner 2:19 Billy Joel 2:30 Michael Jackson 3:40 Diana Ross 3:57 Dionne Warwick 4:57 Willie Nelson 5:04 Al Jarreau 5:10 Bruce Springsteen 5:16 Kenny Logins 5:24 Steve Perry 5:31 Darryl Hall 5:44 Huey Lewis 5:50 Cyndi Lauper 5:57 Kim Carnes 6:30 John Oats 6:33 Quincy Jones 6:36 Smokey Robinson 6:43 Bob Dylan 7:03 Jackie, LaToya, Marlon, Randy, & Tito Jackson 7:07 Sheila E. 7:35 Dan Aykroyd, Harry Belafonte 7:56 Ray Charles 9:45 Bette Midler 9:59 Lindsey Buckingham "USA for Africa" brought together the biggest names in the music industry from all types of genres, including pop, country, folk, rock, and more. "We Are The World" remains to be one of the best-selling songs of all time, selling over 20 million physical copies during the mid-1980s.
A Bruce story from this was that Bruce had performed the night before this in, like, Chicago or on the East Coast or some such. The amount of energy he puts into performing is legendary and he had a hard and fast policy that he broke for this that he REFUSED to fly the day after he performed. He’s too drained and to add jet-lag to that might kill him. For this, though, he agreed.
the woman how is not singing is Sheila E she was a drummer for Prince and she did solo things like a glamorous life and belle of st mark and a duet with Prince called a love bizarre!!!!!
And she can sing. I think at the end of the video clip she sang, like she was the "echo" part of it. I saw her in concert with Prince, and enjoyed her much better, which surprised me.
You could react to every singer here and have a musical journey of epic proportions. They got together after an award show and spent the night recording. Stars from the 1950's to 1980's who are still some of the most recognized names in recording history.
There will never ever be a time where musicians and artists will have so much individual character as they did in the 80s and before that. It's insane the magic they are (Even though many are already gone) able to convey through their voice. Might be just the feeling I'm getting but the late 90s and early 2000s is where money really took over the music industry or in other words first there was money and then the artist, when it should be the other way around. These people started in smaller bands in the 70s and grew into what they became through years and years. Still happens today, but at a much smaller scale. Nowadays, especially the mainstream artists you see, release one song, get found by a major label and all their beats sound basically the same, because it's what makes the money flow. And don't get me started on the difference between having to buy a vinyl, holding it in your hands, seeing it, touching it and then putting it on a record player and listening to it (Having a whole experience) and just clicking on play on the internet. We, as the general public, have also dumbed down dramatically when it comes to music.
The lady with the glasses in the front is Sheila E. Per the Netflix documentary, she was unhappy because she felt she was only invited there because they were hoping Prince would come since she was touring with him at the time. Beast Bruce is call THE BOSS.
Her "yeah yeah yeah yeah!" was improvised and was a great lead into the chorus. When they did the version for Haiti 25 years later, they included Cyndi's yeahs, but this time Celine Dion did them.
I think it was Bruce that started building the song's energy which was quickly followed by Kenny Loggins smoth and clear pop sound then transferring to Steve Perry's vocal and then to Daryl Hall, Michael took it up another level, Huey maintained it them Cindy made the energy explode.
There is a documentary on Netflix how they did this song. There was no rehearsal, they told everyone when and where to show up and then they recorded the song.
Most people that are reacting to this song 40 years later don’t even realize it was 1985 when it was recorded. The New Wave, Punk Rock, Pop Rock, Heavy Metal, R & B, and the rising of Rap music. Time warp fact: a year later Jan. 28, 1986 was when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, and the year prior Jan. 27-28, 1984, Michael. Jackson’s hair caught on fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial for his song Billy Jean.
Bis, you make me feel old watching you react to this😮 this was a collection of some of the greatest voices of my generation (70’s and 80’s) and this level of talent will never be assembled in one room ever again. All of these people could sing and perform like no one today, all without auto tune and computers, just talent. It makes me sad that these faces fade into our past for the sake of “new” music, they deserve to be remembered.
I wonder what it would have cost to go to Lloyds of London to insure that group of immense talent for the night??? I'm sure it would have been an inconceivable amount. Whew!! It always blesses my heart that when the call for 'Help!' goes out, my country, the USA, is always the first to answer the call, in one way or another!!
There is a nice documentary on Netflix about the recording of this song... It was just the one night! An amazing feat to bring the best and brightest stars of the moment for this beautiful song... all thanks to, specially but not exclusively, Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones.
If you were a voice recognized all over the world, if you were a renowned composer, world-class musician, yes, you have the right to analyze the great voices of the world.
Bit silly saying Cyndi Lauper didn't understand what the situation was just because of the colour of her hair. That was all part of her style in the 80s, do you expect her to change it for this song? You might as well say Michael Jackson didn't understand seeing as he was wearing one of his garish jackets and sparkly gloves. Her hair is as much of her gimmick as the coat and gloves were Michaels. If you want to hear a hard rock/metal charity song, there are several, but Hear N Aid - Stars is the one to go for.
Hahaha You're so stinkin adorable during this video. Ty❤ Some of my fave artist are on here. 80s truly were a time of togetherness unlike today. You totally need to hear the song Thats what friends are for. Dionne Warwick. Stevie Wonder. Elton John and Gladys Knight. There are several versions, but that 4some is my fave❤ and the best for that song.
Lionel Richie, Biss, formerly from the Commodores, a true legend, along with Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Michael J, Kenney R, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, Darryl Hall, Cyndi Lauper, Huey Lewis, Ray Charles and others, all Legends, great pick Biss💕
I know you didn’t like the Cyndi Lauper part much, but could you say why? I ask because many people, including Quincy Jones, feel that she absolutely nailed her part. There was no homework btw. The whole song was recorded after the American Music Awards. It was rehearsed and sang in parts. I believe they finished about 7:30am. We disagree about Cyndi, but I loved your video! 🙂
The singer with the colorful hair was Cyndi Lauper - She is known for a variety of songs, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Time After Time", and "True Colors" to name a few.
The yellow & Red hair woman is Cindy Lopper and she was one of the Best on this song Because she was different with her own style .. I loved her voice on this song
First break: it starts with Lionel Richie, who is on American Idol now, so that's probably how you know him, he was one of the songs writers, then he's with Stevie Wonder, then Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, I forget that next guy, but then Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, and Diana Ross
"We Are the World" is a charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World. With sales in excess of 20 million copies, it is the eighth-best-selling physical single of all time. Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. Live Aid was one of the largest satellite television broadcasts of all time; an estimated audience of 1.9 billion, in 150 nations watched the live broadcast, nearly 40 per cent of the world population.
This video was completed in 1 day. It happened after an awards ceremony in Los Angeles where most of these stars were attending. The first break you missed Lionel Ritchie, Steve Wonder, Paul Simon. Red hair lady Cyndi Lauper, the guy you mentioned shining is Bruce Springsteen.
Money Changes Everything... Cyndi Lauper's voice is SO powerful and beautiful! Listen to how long she holds her note in that song ... you'll know it when you hear it.
The 1st guy to sing was Lionel Richie and the lady whose voice you liked was Diana Ross they did a duet together called "endless love". That was a bit hit and favorite also Lionel has a bunch or great songs like penny lover, hello....and Diana Ross has bunch or hits from 60s. When she was the lead voice in the group the supremes with a lot of hits like "baby love"
In 1985 inspired by Band Aids “Do They Know It’s Christmas “, in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧,American entertainer Harry Belafonte decided to organise a American equivalent,USA for Africa,great reaction thanks 🙏
That's Wilie Nelson's style. He sings slightly behind the beat, similar to many jazz singers. You should check out his duet with Ray Charles called Seven Spanish Angels. They were very good friends. They got together on stage with Leon Russell shortly before Ray died. It was for Willie's birthday.and they sang A Song For You. It was so heartfelt that Willie wept.....he wasn't the only one either.
There's a documentary streaming about the making of this song. It was all done in one night. so very little rehearsal. They mention that when i chorus is singing, some where given different parts so they may appear to be not singing when the camera focuses on them.
Watch the "making of" video for this where they went over and over the parts, essentially developing the soul of the song right there in the studio. You'll see how Cyndi's part developed... what ended up in the final cut is what they wanted it to be. She didn't start out being so far out there, but her line is one of the more iconic parts of the song.
@@0okamino The documentary interviewed Sheila E, like a true rock star, still carries a grudge all these years later, so she split. Another famous one that was there but left was Waylon Jennings. Apparently, Stevie thought the group should sing in some African dialect…. which didn’t go well…. and wasn’t even Ethiopian. Waylon split after one or two tries at that.
The trouble is though, it is usually copied and pasted from when the soloists come in on their part of the song in the official video, so never syncs with anybody's reaction videos.
Bisscute, I remember seeing a special program that deals with the recording of this video and they spent many hours in a row rehearsing, in the early morning some sleeping and others doing their parts.
This article is about the original 1985 charity song. For other uses, see We Are the World (disambiguation). "We Are the World" An album cover with "We Are the World" spelled out across the left and bottom in cut-and-paste-style. To the top right of the cover is "USA for Africa" in blue text, under which names are listed against a white background "We Are the World" is a charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World. With sales in excess of 20 million copies, it is the eighth-best-selling physical single of all time. Soon after the British group Band Aid released "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in December 1984, the musician and activist Harry Belafonte decided to create an American benefit single for African famine relief. With the fundraiser Ken Kragen, he enlisted several musicians. Jackson and Richie completed the writing the night before the first recording session, on January 21, 1985. The event brought together some of the era's best-known musicians. One musician deliberately omitted was John Denver who had asked to participate but was rejected, despite his previous commitment to charity work. Ken Kragen claimed it was due to some people feeling that Denver's image would affect the credibility of the song as a pop-rock anthem. "I didn't agree with this assessment," Kragen said, but reluctantly turned Denver down.[1] Denver recalled the rejection in his 1994 autobiography "Take Me Home", stating that "It broke my heart not to be included" [2] "We Are the World" was released on March 7, 1985, as the first single from the album by Columbia Records. It topped music charts throughout the world and became the fastest-selling U.S. pop single in history. "We Are the World" was certified quadruple platinum, becoming the first single to be certified multi-platinum. Its awards include four Grammy Awards, one American Music Award, and a People's Choice Award. "We Are the World" was promoted with a music video, a VHS, a special edition magazine, a simulcast, and several books, posters, and shirts. The promotion and merchandise helped "We Are the World" raise more than $80 million ($222 million today) for humanitarian aid in Africa and the United States. USA for Africa musicians Lionel Richie Stevie Wonder Paul Simon Kenny Rogers James Ingram Tina Turner Billy Joel Michael Jackson Diana Ross Dionne Warwick Willie Nelson Al Jarreau Bruce Springsteen Kenny Loggins Steve Perry Daryl Hall Huey Lewis Cyndi Lauper Kim Carnes Bob Dylan Ray Charles
the original charity song is do they know its Christmas which came out at the end of 1984 with a lot of the top uk bands and singers to raise money for the famine in ethiopia this song was released in response to the success of that song and to raise money for the same cause both songs led to the massive live aid concert in 1985
This is so needed right now in this tme. How did we ever let go of this love and unity in America? Were things perfect? No. But they were much better and we were actually striving for unity. Not so much now. I love all the voices in this unselfish collaboration of America's best performers. Each voice unique, each voice precious and each voice missed today. Love and peace to all who may read this comment.
Hello Bisscute, I think it would be well worth a reaction from each of those who participated in this video, so that the youngest people have the opportunity to know and enjoy the quality of these great artists, that would be my suggestion for this day. Greetings and a hug from Mexico City.
Well, if you're interested in hearing more from "The Boss" Bruce Springsteen, here are just a few of his classics: Blinded by the Light, Because the Night, Rosalita (Come Out Tonight), Born to Run, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, Badlands, Prove it All Night, Fire, Cover Me, Hungry Heart... that's just the first ten years after his 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.
Many of us know every one of those singers. To see this video at the time was incredible that so many major singers were in the same room performing together. If you were from that era, it gives you chills. Also, the magic in this song is that each singers style and personality is highlighted in even just a few words. I could listen to this song without seeing the video and recognize almost all of them. rehearsed and performed in one night. Magic
That was a joy to watch with you! I hope you PLEEEEASE do some BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN next 😂...that was hilarious seeing you wonder who he was and complimenting his voice. I think Born To Run is a good place/song to start with... or even Thunder Road, Backstreets... Hungry Heart, The River... and a few hundred other gems ;)
'We are the World' was inspired by the song 'Do they know it's Christmas?', performed one year earlier by artists from the U. K. and Ireland, in a project called 'Band Aid', which shortly afterwards gave rise to the festival 'Live Aid', which many people know. 'Do they know it's Christmas?' would be a good suggestion for a reaction! One more thing Biss: please, please, please, don't keep with the first impression you had of Cindy Lauper and give her one more chance, because believe me, if you check out her music, you'll like it.
They spent all night on it and there were plenty of disagreements with all of those stars in the room. Plus, they didn't even get started until around midnight. They did it after the American Music Awards to have as many of them already in town as possible.
I remember when this first came out and knew back then it would become a classic. Michael Jackson brought together famous musicians from different genres to perform his song for charity. Music brings the world together.😎
Note that European musicians (Bob Geldoff, Midge Ure, Bono, Sting, Phil Collins, Boy George, Status Quo and many more) started first with their “Do they know its Christmas time” song to financially support the World Aid programs to stop the famine in Ethiopia ……. The US artists followed some months later. It matters to me as a lot of people think it was an american initiative……it wasn’t
Absolutely correct. There’s a documentary on the making of this and they state in there both their admiration and the…… I don’t want to say ‘shame’…… lets say ‘call to action’ among Lionel, Michael, Quincy, etc that “white European artists are helping Africans but African-American artists weren’t…… YET!”
Obviously the group of American artists constituted many races but Lionel, Michael & Quincy were insistent and proud that the American effort would be led by African-Americans.
This song came out some time after the Band Aid song from the UK, which led to the Live Aid concert. And Michael Jackson is said to have refused to appear at Live Aid, because it wasn't organised by an American! Others on this song, such as Tina Turner (great woman) and Dylan did bother to turn out for Live Aid. So this song didn't lead the help for Ethiopia, it followed the example set by Band Aid.
The song “We Are the World” was recorded on January 28, 1985 by the supergroup USA for Africa and released on March 7, 1985. The song was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian. The single was a charity effort to raise money and awareness for famine victims in Africa and sold over 800,000 copies in its first three days, eventually raising more than $60 million
Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson wrote the song. Sheila E. was the woman who did not sing. She might have been pissed that Prince refused to come. They were very close. She was also supposed to have a solo, but that never happened.
Lionel Richie - 0:26
Stevie Wonder - 0:39
Paul Simon - 0:43
Kenny Rogers - 0:53
James Ingram - 0:59
Tina Turner - 1:06
Billy Joel - 1:13
Michael Jackson - 1:19
Diana Ross - 1:32
Dionne Warwick - 1:48
Willie Nelson - 2:02
Al Jarreau - 2:09
Bruce Springsteen - 2:15
Kenny Loggins - 2:21
Steve Perry - 2:28
Daryl Hall - 2:36
Huey Lewis - 2:48
Cyndi Lauper - 2:54
Kim Carnes - 3:02
Bob Dylan - 3:48
Ray Charles - 4:27
Steve Perry 5:23 *
i was like there's no Bob Dylan at 3:48, but bro took the timestamps of the music video not the reaction video xD
Yes those are the timestamps on the original video. Also, there are other artists there but not singing a main part such as John Oates, Smokey Robinson and Bette Midler just to name a few
Loggins and Perry is my favorite part!
Well done, brother! Time stamps and all..!
Yellow and Red hair girl is Cindy Lauper. "Girls just wanna have fun" will make you love her voice!!! millions views
For me, that is one of my least favorites, of her more popular 80's songs. Still liked it of course, it was rather catchy. That might be a guy thing though. Loved her version of 'I Drove All Night'. Also thought she did well in the movie, Vibes.
Cindy actually is a great singer and an inspiration for women. Very intelligent woman.
And the goodies classic.
at the point in the song where she comes in, suddenly the song gets ramped up 10 notches....
I enjoyed Cyndi above them all
It makes you realise how old you are when people don't know Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Smokey Robinson, Quincy Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Lionel Richie, Bette Midler & Dan Aykroyd.
At least for Dan Aykroyd, you might not be expecting him to be there.
Someone posted on another reaction to this, who is the guy with the shiny glove? Time rolls on, and all too soon will roll over those of us who know who all those folks are.
@@deanroddey2881 Yeah, I have seen black Americans who have no idea who Diana Ross & Stevie Wonder are. Bisscute at least has a reason-being from a country where likely these artists aren't that well known.
I was not very impressed with your reaction.
Agree with you 💯%@@CraigWells-k7h
At 3:45, you said, "Imagine harmonizing with Michael." That was Diana Ross, original lead singer for The Supremes (the greatest girl group ever!!!), with a great career as a solo artist, who just happens to be credited with "discovering" The Jackson Five & bringing them to the attention of the head of Motown Records. Believe me, MJ was thrilled & delighted, & honored, to be harmonizing with her!!
I was watching Facts of iLife today where Tootie went as Diana Ross to a costume party and said there were 14 other Diana Rosses there then im thinking watching these reactions most don’t recognize Diana. Everyone recognizes Michael Jackson tho and many recognize Bruce but many others no clue.
I was thinking the same thing....the honor of harmonizing was Michael's in that situation!
This was a one NIGHT thing. Lionel Richie hosted and many of the other artists came straight from one of the big awards shows, Grammy’s or some such.
They had one night to get this in. No rehearsal prior.
There’s a Netflix documentary recently out that tells the story.
The funniest story from it is Ray Charles arrived and said he was ready to go, just needed to use the restroom. Of all people Stevie Wonder piped up and said “I know where it is, I’ll take you!” Someone noted “Well, now I’ve seen EVERYTHING!….. The blind leading the blind!”
The sun was rather high in the sky before they wrapped. It was filmed and recorded in a famous but relatively small but famous LA studio.
These are some of the biggest, most impactful artists of their day. Just getting it to come together was enormous. These are stars you have to give at least 6 months notice to to get them to change their schedules.
The song wasn’t finished being written until just a few days prior. In the documentary, Lionel talks about trying to write it with Michael and Michael’s chimp ‘Bubbles’ kept interfering and Michael’s snake was freaking Lionel out.
They had to get the studio but keep it absolutely secret or any one of these artists would draw huge paparazzi. So many stars but so little space that each artist was allowed a single assistant only in the outside room, no assistants in the recording area.
The documentary tells a funny story that all the stars are sort of standing around awkwardly until Sheila E broke the ice, walked nervously up to Darryl Hall and asked for his autograph. After that, the artists all sort of relaxed and started mingling and letting their guard down.
Sheila E left early, though, because the producers kept coming up and asking if she’d call Prince and get him to come. She felt used. Prince and Michael HATED each other.
Watch the documentary - they most definitely rehearsed@@MrSmithla
@@allendesalme197 I did and they did. Never said they didn’t. In the documentary they said rehearsals were on a ‘beginning to end’ style. They’d start with the first people/beginning of the song and go….. but when anyone messed up, they’d start over. The ones at the end of the song were like, “You never get to us, so we don’t get a chance.”
On Huey Lewis, Cyndi and….. Lindsey Buckingham???? Not sure of the 3rd….. Huey came up with the three part harmony on his own and they just did it that way, no input from Quincy or anyone.
@@allendesalme197 Stevie wanted to rehearse singing in some African dialect…. that’s not even Ethiopian and after one or two goes, Waylon Jennings left.
The name of the documentary is “the greatest night in pop” I recommend you watch it! So many insights on the making of this great song!
Who's that? Who's that?!? WHO'S THAT?!? They're simply the best voices of the 80s, that along with the 90s will forever be the best 2 decades in music industry.
When this song came out I was young. Now that I am older, I notice that the older folks in this video seem to be the ones totally immersed with their entire being. Age and experience gives you something that just can not be achieved in our youth.
They were ALL world stars! It's sad that today's youth hardly know them anymore... 😞
I guess it evens up-because I wouldn't recognise most of the people considered stars nowadays if you got them all together in a room. Even those I do know visually like Taylor Swift & Ed Sheeran I honestly couldn't even sing or hum any of their songs-because they are so bland & unmemorable.
In the mid 80s, would you have recognized everyone in a room full of musicians from the 1940s? It's the same time span.
@@nthsum5509 Not really-because most of the artists are still around making music & on television like Springsteen, Dylan, Joel etc, have had biopics made about them like Ray Charles, are mammothly famous/legendary like MJ, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, or are being watched by reaction channels/having hits like Steve Perry with re-releases. The artists from the 1940's & 1950's-mostly big bands were mostly gone by the late 1950's as the industry changed, lots of young deaths in plane & car crashes, death by alcoholism etc.
@@daveborder7751
A) How many of them released a Number 1 hit during her lifetime? Peter Noon was still touring during the 90s. That doesn't mean that 90s kids new who Herman's Hermits was.
B) This woman is educating herself as fast as she can. In a second language. We should probably cut her some slack if she doesn't know who Hall and Oates are.
@@nthsum5509 only I would...Yes you nailed the whole point of that subject. I feel like a musical mseum care taker lol. I'm a former school music teacher. When the young and most of the public in the USA have no idea who George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Mozart, the Beatles, Motown. Tony Bennett etc were and their music, we have become a musically ignorant nation. Music appreciation classes and school music classes are always cut first in school budgets, but you'll never see a weed growing in a football stadium. I say BRAVO to young reactors who are learning about music outside of their comfort zone of cororatev radio playlist poisoning their musical judgement by repetition.
You're the only reactor I've seen who didn't like Cyndi Lauper in this song. Her performance here usually gets one of the top praises. This recording was done on the same day as that year's American Music Awards where she performed. Definitely check out her hits such as "Time After Time", "All Through the Night", "True Colors", etc...
Ok so first of all, LOVE Cyndi Lauper!
But I'll be honest, when I think of Cyndi Lauper's We Are the World performance "top praises" isn't the first thing I think of, I instantly think of all the memes of Michael Jackson annoyed at her and Huey Lewis' singing 😂
Not hating, just can't watch without chuckling lol
@@omarjimenez8895 Wasn't talking about you.
@@omarjimenez8895 Cyndi didn't like the song, and she wasn't the only one. But I was watching the documentary and Lionel said that the song is meant to be elevated by the artists, and they definitely did. If he were to sing this as just a duet with MJ, it would've probably ended up like "Heal the World".
lauper was great she should of had more solo time
"Girls Just Want To Have Fun" is her biggest all time hit
To give you some idea of just how big the artists were in that room, the folks who actually sang the verses (as opposed to the choir who sang the refrain) have 160 GRAMMY AWARDS between them.
They were huge when this was recorded, and they've continued to influence the artists who are huge today.
I watched the documentary on how We Are the World was made. Amazing. Number one was getting all the stars together at once. Several stars were shy and had a hard time being with their peers, no agents, assistants, or entourages were allowed, only stars. The location had to be secret so no press or paparazzi would show up. They sung the chorus first and that took five hours so some stars were frustrated and tempers got heated. The next part were the solos and they did rehearse with a piano and Stevie Wonder played it. Bob Dylan had a real hard time with the solos. Stevie had to sing like Bob so he could get an idea how to sing his part. Kudos to Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, and Quincy Jones for putting it all together.
I enjoy hearing your opinions even when I disagree. 😉 I loved Cyndi Lauper in this, and everything else she does for that matter. Here are the solo singers in order of appearance:
Lionel Richie - 0:26; Stevie Wonder - 0:39; Paul Simon - 0:43; Kenny Rogers - 0:53; James Ingram - 0:59; Tina Turner - 1:06; Billy Joel - 1:13; Michael Jackson - 1:19; Diana Ross - 1:32; Dionne Warwick - 1:48; Willie Nelson - 2:02; Al; Jarreau - 2:09; Bruce Springsteen - 2:15; Kenny Loggins - 2:21; Steve Perry - 2:28; Daryl Hall - 2:36; Huey Lewis - 2:48; Cyndi Lauper - 2:54; Kim Carnes - 3:02; Bob Dylan - 3:48; Ray Charles - 4:27
Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote the song and worked with producer Quincy Jones to get everything ready. Then all of the artists arrived after attending an awards show that they were all in town for, and they worked on it all night until morning. They didn't know the song in advance, but they did multiple takes. It's so cute that you didn't know who most of them were, although I realize this was way before your time and from a different country. They all have songs that you should react to. Lionel Richie was from The Commodores and also had a great solo career. Paul Simon was from Simon and Garfunkel. Daryl Hall was from Hall & Oates . Diana Ross was from The Supreme. She helped The Jackson Five get started and Michael Jackson idolized her. It's been suggested that he had plastic surgery on his nose to try to make it look like hers. There were lots of great artists in the chorus too. It's a shame that more of them couldn't have had solo parts.
I don't understand 😮😮😮 the part of Cyndi is the most emotional. I am so shocked 😮😮😮😮😱😱😱😱
This is a good song! So many legendary singers in one song!
SIAP, performed after an award show when all the singers where in L.os Angeles. Director Quincy Jones put a note on the door, "Leave your egos at the door."
1:33 Lionel Richie
1:45 Stevie Wonder
1:50 Paul Simon
2:00 Kenny Rogers
2:07 James Ingram
2:13 Tina Turner
2:19 Billy Joel
2:30 Michael Jackson
3:40 Diana Ross
3:57 Dionne Warwick
4:57 Willie Nelson
5:04 Al Jarreau
5:10 Bruce Springsteen
5:16 Kenny Logins
5:24 Steve Perry
5:31 Darryl Hall
5:44 Huey Lewis
5:50 Cyndi Lauper
5:57 Kim Carnes
6:30 John Oats
6:33 Quincy Jones
6:36 Smokey Robinson
6:43 Bob Dylan
7:03 Jackie, LaToya, Marlon, Randy, & Tito Jackson
7:07 Sheila E.
7:35 Dan Aykroyd, Harry Belafonte
7:56 Ray Charles
9:45 Bette Midler
9:59 Lindsey Buckingham
"USA for Africa" brought together the biggest names in the music industry from all types of genres, including pop, country, folk, rock, and more.
"We Are The World" remains to be one of the best-selling songs of all time, selling over 20 million physical copies during the mid-1980s.
Dan Akroyd being confined to the chorus is a tragedy.
Oh, and Willie Nelson wasn’t late to the part. He the master of delayed harmony.
He had to keep a low profile. Elwood Blues was still wanted, after escaping from Joliet just to be there for the recording. 😉
Bisscute, the song is almost 40 years old.
You know a lot more about it than most of your generation.
Go well dear.
A Bruce story from this was that Bruce had performed the night before this in, like, Chicago or on the East Coast or some such.
The amount of energy he puts into performing is legendary and he had a hard and fast policy that he broke for this that he REFUSED to fly the day after he performed.
He’s too drained and to add jet-lag to that might kill him.
For this, though, he agreed.
the woman how is not singing is Sheila E she was a drummer for Prince and she did solo things like a glamorous life and belle of st mark and a duet with Prince called a love bizarre!!!!!
And she can sing. I think at the end of the video clip she sang, like she was the "echo" part of it. I saw her in concert with Prince, and enjoyed her much better, which surprised me.
This generation needs to be educated on all these legendary artists. 🙏
I don't t expect someone who isn't American to grasp this song. No clue. Cyndi Lauper is adorable!
You could react to every singer here and have a musical journey of epic proportions. They got together after an award show and spent the night recording. Stars from the 1950's to 1980's who are still some of the most recognized names in recording history.
On NETFLIX there is the documentary about how the song was recorded.
There will never ever be a time where musicians and artists will have so much individual character as they did in the 80s and before that. It's insane the magic they are (Even though many are already gone) able to convey through their voice. Might be just the feeling I'm getting but the late 90s and early 2000s is where money really took over the music industry or in other words first there was money and then the artist, when it should be the other way around. These people started in smaller bands in the 70s and grew into what they became through years and years. Still happens today, but at a much smaller scale. Nowadays, especially the mainstream artists you see, release one song, get found by a major label and all their beats sound basically the same, because it's what makes the money flow. And don't get me started on the difference between having to buy a vinyl, holding it in your hands, seeing it, touching it and then putting it on a record player and listening to it (Having a whole experience) and just clicking on play on the internet. We, as the general public, have also dumbed down dramatically when it comes to music.
Cyndi Lauper, the woman with the red and yellow hair, is an incredible singer! My favorite.
6:02 that's actually my favorite part 😅 You probably know some of her songs, "Time After Time", "True Colors" or "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun".
Everyone there contributed their talent and time for this event. Got to love it!
A group of incredible talents together ❤
Literally THE BEST part of the song: "I didn't like that very much"
ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? 😂 I don't understand you
The lady with the glasses in the front is Sheila E. Per the Netflix documentary, she was unhappy because she felt she was only invited there because they were hoping Prince would come since she was touring with him at the time.
Beast Bruce is call THE BOSS.
Crazy how I've seen you react to at least a dozen, yet 3 are memorable. True music lover. 😅
Part you didn’t like was my favorite part. Go Cindy!!
Her "yeah yeah yeah yeah!" was improvised and was a great lead into the chorus. When they did the version for Haiti 25 years later, they included Cyndi's yeahs, but this time Celine Dion did them.
I think it was Bruce that started building the song's energy which was quickly followed by Kenny Loggins smoth and clear pop sound then transferring to Steve Perry's vocal and then to Daryl Hall, Michael took it up another level, Huey maintained it them Cindy made the energy explode.
nobody asked
Cindy did a great job. She exploded.
I love Cindy
This song is fantastic ! This is dream team of the 80's singers 😊
I almost fell from my chair when I heard your comment about the yellow and red hair girl. Her name is Cindy Lauper.
There is a documentary on Netflix how they did this song. There was no rehearsal, they told everyone when and where to show up and then they recorded the song.
Most people that are reacting to this song 40 years later don’t even realize it was 1985 when it was recorded. The New Wave, Punk Rock, Pop Rock, Heavy Metal, R & B, and the rising of Rap music. Time warp fact: a year later Jan. 28, 1986 was when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, and the year prior Jan. 27-28, 1984, Michael. Jackson’s hair caught on fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial for his song Billy Jean.
Bis, you make me feel old watching you react to this😮 this was a collection of some of the greatest voices of my generation (70’s and 80’s) and this level of talent will never be assembled in one room ever again. All of these people could sing and perform like no one today, all without auto tune and computers, just talent. It makes me sad that these faces fade into our past for the sake of “new” music, they deserve to be remembered.
I wonder what it would have cost to go to Lloyds of London to insure that group of immense talent for the night??? I'm sure it would have been an inconceivable amount. Whew!!
It always blesses my heart that when the call for 'Help!' goes out, my country, the USA, is always the first to answer the call, in one way or another!!
There is a nice documentary on Netflix about the recording of this song... It was just the one night! An amazing feat to bring the best and brightest stars of the moment for this beautiful song... all thanks to, specially but not exclusively, Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones.
If you were a voice recognized all over the world, if you were a renowned composer, world-class musician, yes, you have the right to analyze the great voices of the world.
Bit silly saying Cyndi Lauper didn't understand what the situation was just because of the colour of her hair. That was all part of her style in the 80s, do you expect her to change it for this song? You might as well say Michael Jackson didn't understand seeing as he was wearing one of his garish jackets and sparkly gloves. Her hair is as much of her gimmick as the coat and gloves were Michaels.
If you want to hear a hard rock/metal charity song, there are several, but Hear N Aid - Stars is the one to go for.
I think she meant her singing style not her fashion style
Brother, she said this about her voice, not her hairstyle
Hear N Aid is a pretty good one too. Gotta give props to Vivian Campbell
Hahaha You're so stinkin adorable during this video. Ty❤
Some of my fave artist are on here. 80s truly were a time of togetherness unlike today.
You totally need to hear the song Thats what friends are for. Dionne Warwick. Stevie Wonder. Elton John and Gladys Knight. There are several versions, but that 4some is my fave❤ and the best for that song.
Lionel Richie, Biss, formerly from the Commodores, a true legend, along with Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Michael J, Kenney R, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, Darryl Hall, Cyndi Lauper, Huey Lewis, Ray Charles and others, all Legends, great pick Biss💕
I know you didn’t like the Cyndi Lauper part much, but could you say why? I ask because many people, including Quincy Jones, feel that she absolutely nailed her part. There was no homework btw. The whole song was recorded after the American Music Awards. It was rehearsed and sang in parts. I believe they finished about 7:30am. We disagree about Cyndi, but I loved your video! 🙂
The singer with the colorful hair was Cyndi Lauper - She is known for a variety of songs, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Time After Time", and "True Colors" to name a few.
The yellow & Red hair woman is Cindy Lopper and she was one of the Best on this song
Because she was different with her own style .. I loved her voice on this song
First break: it starts with Lionel Richie, who is on American Idol now, so that's probably how you know him, he was one of the songs writers, then he's with Stevie Wonder, then Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, I forget that next guy, but then Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, and Diana Ross
The late James Ingram.
"We Are the World" is a charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World. With sales in excess of 20 million copies, it is the eighth-best-selling physical single of all time.
Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985.
Live Aid was one of the largest satellite television broadcasts of all time; an estimated audience of 1.9 billion, in 150 nations watched the live broadcast, nearly 40 per cent of the world population.
This was done in 1985 after the American Music Awards. No rehearsals, just pop in and do it.
Hell Yes, first like for the video and first like for any TH-cam video, thank you Biss 😇
I haven’t heard this in a loonngg time
This video was completed in 1 day. It happened after an awards ceremony in Los Angeles where most of these stars were attending. The first break you missed Lionel Ritchie, Steve Wonder, Paul Simon. Red hair lady Cyndi Lauper, the guy you mentioned shining is Bruce Springsteen.
Cyndi Laupers part was very good. This song is so iconic for what it is.
Money Changes Everything... Cyndi Lauper's voice is SO powerful and beautiful! Listen to how long she holds her note in that song ... you'll know it when you hear it.
The 1st guy to sing was Lionel Richie and the lady whose voice you liked was Diana Ross they did a duet together called "endless love". That was a bit hit and favorite also Lionel has a bunch or great songs like penny lover, hello....and Diana Ross has bunch or hits from 60s. When she was the lead voice in the group the supremes with a lot of hits like "baby love"
In 1985 inspired by Band Aids “Do They Know It’s Christmas “, in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧,American entertainer Harry Belafonte decided to organise a American equivalent,USA for Africa,great reaction thanks 🙏
And Michael Jackson as well (he was also one of the organizers).
Quincy Jones the conductor was the producer of this song. He produced millions of hit records.
includuing Lesley Gore...
That's Wilie Nelson's style. He sings slightly behind the beat, similar to many jazz singers. You should check out his duet with Ray Charles called Seven Spanish Angels. They were very good friends. They got together on stage with Leon Russell shortly before Ray died. It was for Willie's birthday.and they sang A Song For You. It was so heartfelt that Willie wept.....he wasn't the only one either.
also check out Hear 'n Aid Stars, the 10+ min version includes all the guitar solos, this was the heavy metal project for Africa led by Dio 🤘
Up next: Bisscute broadcasts the Boss beast Bruce Beastspring!! lmao That was fantastic! So glad I subbed! 🧡🧡
I bet you would love Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" it is a classic and just about everybody love it.
I don't normally comment....but I Love Cyndi Laupers part.....that up and down movement of her voice had a lot of passion.
There's a documentary streaming about the making of this song. It was all done in one night. so very little rehearsal. They mention that when i chorus is singing, some where given different parts so they may appear to be not singing when the camera focuses on them.
The fact people don’t know who James Ingram is is criminal was one of the best voices to grace us
There is more talent in that one room than there is in all of music today. I still remember watching this the first time it was aired.
I love how when she saw and heard "The Boss" Bruce Springsteen, she squealed BEAST !!!!!
Stevie & Bruce: the duet we never knew we needed but absolutely slayed 🙌 Ray Charles
Watch the "making of" video for this where they went over and over the parts, essentially developing the soul of the song right there in the studio. You'll see how Cyndi's part developed... what ended up in the final cut is what they wanted it to be. She didn't start out being so far out there, but her line is one of the more iconic parts of the song.
One of the artists looked at the collection of talent and observed, “If a bomb goes off in here, John Denver is back on the top of the charts!”
John Denver even wanted to participate, but they snubbed him for very shallow reasons. So much for leaving the egos out of it, I guess.
Do you happen to know who said that? That’s funny, but possibly true.
@@chriscostelloe8942 The documentary is on NF, I think. It’s relatively new. You’ll find it if you look
@@0okamino The documentary interviewed Sheila E, like a true rock star, still carries a grudge all these years later, so she split. Another famous one that was there but left was Waylon Jennings. Apparently, Stevie thought the group should sing in some African dialect…. which didn’t go well…. and wasn’t even Ethiopian. Waylon split after one or two tries at that.
@@0okamino Oh, but we kept Gary Busey and Dan Aykroyd…… for some reason??!!??
I always come to the We Are the World comments to see how many people will time stamp every individual performance. 😂
The trouble is though, it is usually copied and pasted from when the soloists come in on their part of the song in the official video, so never syncs with anybody's reaction videos.
Bisscute, I remember seeing a special program that deals with the recording of this video and they spent many hours in a row rehearsing, in the early morning some sleeping and others doing their parts.
It was the year 1985.. in colombia it was broadcast every day at 4:00 pm on T.V.
This article is about the original 1985 charity song. For other uses, see We Are the World (disambiguation).
"We Are the World"
An album cover with "We Are the World" spelled out across the left and bottom in cut-and-paste-style. To the top right of the cover is "USA for Africa" in blue text, under which names are listed against a white background
"We Are the World" is a charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World. With sales in excess of 20 million copies, it is the eighth-best-selling physical single of all time.
Soon after the British group Band Aid released "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in December 1984, the musician and activist Harry Belafonte decided to create an American benefit single for African famine relief. With the fundraiser Ken Kragen, he enlisted several musicians. Jackson and Richie completed the writing the night before the first recording session, on January 21, 1985. The event brought together some of the era's best-known musicians.
One musician deliberately omitted was John Denver who had asked to participate but was rejected, despite his previous commitment to charity work. Ken Kragen claimed it was due to some people feeling that Denver's image would affect the credibility of the song as a pop-rock anthem. "I didn't agree with this assessment," Kragen said, but reluctantly turned Denver down.[1] Denver recalled the rejection in his 1994 autobiography "Take Me Home", stating that "It broke my heart not to be included" [2]
"We Are the World" was released on March 7, 1985, as the first single from the album by Columbia Records. It topped music charts throughout the world and became the fastest-selling U.S. pop single in history. "We Are the World" was certified quadruple platinum, becoming the first single to be certified multi-platinum. Its awards include four Grammy Awards, one American Music Award, and a People's Choice Award.
"We Are the World" was promoted with a music video, a VHS, a special edition magazine, a simulcast, and several books, posters, and shirts. The promotion and merchandise helped "We Are the World" raise more than $80 million ($222 million today) for humanitarian aid in Africa and the United States.
USA for Africa musicians
Lionel Richie
Stevie Wonder
Paul Simon
Kenny Rogers
James Ingram
Tina Turner
Billy Joel
Michael Jackson
Diana Ross
Dionne Warwick
Willie Nelson
Al Jarreau
Bruce Springsteen
Kenny Loggins
Steve Perry
Daryl Hall
Huey Lewis
Cyndi Lauper
Kim Carnes
Bob Dylan
Ray Charles
the original charity song is do they know its Christmas which came out at the end of 1984 with a lot of the top uk bands and singers to raise money for the famine in ethiopia this song was released in response to the success of that song and to raise money for the same cause both songs led to the massive live aid concert in 1985
One day, she will get it 😊
Right, take it easy on her, she's just young. She's got a lot of catching up to do is all. She'll get there 🙂
Always thought that was a fun song, enjoyed the reaction!
Willie Nelson sounds wonderful. Different styles of singing. Michael Jackson was honored to harmonize with Diana Ross. He idolized her.
Hola Biss. La canción fué grabada en una sola noche. En Netflix está el documental de como la grabaron.
This is so needed right now in this tme. How did we ever let go of this love and unity in America? Were things perfect? No. But they were much better and we were actually striving for unity. Not so much now. I love all the voices in this unselfish collaboration of America's best performers. Each voice unique, each voice precious and each voice missed today. Love and peace to all who may read this comment.
Willie Nelson just has a unique sound and style.
Hello Bisscute, I think it would be well worth a reaction from each of those who participated in this video, so that the youngest people have the opportunity to know and enjoy the quality of these great artists, that would be my suggestion for this day. Greetings and a hug from Mexico City.
Well, if you're interested in hearing more from "The Boss" Bruce Springsteen, here are just a few of his classics: Blinded by the Light, Because the Night, Rosalita (Come Out Tonight), Born to Run, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, Badlands, Prove it All Night, Fire, Cover Me, Hungry Heart... that's just the first ten years after his 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.
Many of us know every one of those singers. To see this video at the time was incredible that so many major singers were in the same room performing together. If you were from that era, it gives you chills. Also, the magic in this song is that each singers style and personality is highlighted in even just a few words. I could listen to this song without seeing the video and recognize almost all of them. rehearsed and performed in one night. Magic
Huey Lewis and Cyndi lauper are the energetic part of this song classic
More real talent in that room than the entire music industry combined today.
That was a joy to watch with you!
I hope you PLEEEEASE do some BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN next 😂...that was hilarious seeing you wonder who he was and complimenting his voice. I think Born To Run is a good place/song to start with... or even Thunder Road, Backstreets... Hungry Heart, The River... and a few hundred other gems ;)
'We are the World' was inspired by the song 'Do they know it's Christmas?', performed one year earlier by artists from the U. K. and Ireland, in a project called 'Band Aid', which shortly afterwards gave rise to the festival 'Live Aid', which many people know. 'Do they know it's Christmas?' would be a good suggestion for a reaction! One more thing Biss: please, please, please, don't keep with the first impression you had of Cindy Lauper and give her one more chance, because believe me, if you check out her music, you'll like it.
They spent all night on it and there were plenty of disagreements with all of those stars in the room. Plus, they didn't even get started until around midnight. They did it after the American Music Awards to have as many of them already in town as possible.
I remember when this first came out and knew back then it would become a classic. Michael Jackson brought together famous musicians from different genres to perform his song for charity. Music brings the world together.😎
Note that European musicians (Bob Geldoff, Midge Ure, Bono, Sting, Phil Collins, Boy George, Status Quo and many more) started first with their “Do they know its Christmas time” song to financially support the World Aid programs to stop the famine in Ethiopia ……. The US artists followed some months later.
It matters to me as a lot of people think it was an american initiative……it wasn’t
Absolutely correct. There’s a documentary on the making of this and they state in there both their admiration and the…… I don’t want to say ‘shame’…… lets say ‘call to action’ among Lionel, Michael, Quincy, etc that “white European artists are helping Africans but African-American artists weren’t…… YET!”
Obviously the group of American artists constituted many races but Lionel, Michael & Quincy were insistent and proud that the American effort would be led by African-Americans.
"do they know its christmas" is another charity song i think its also aid for africa
The boss was a real Bon Jovi mentor. He is the real 80s Usa voice. Cant believe you didnt know him.
Beast Bruce 🤣
There’s a documentary on Netflix about how this song came about and the logistical nightmare to get everyone there to record it one night…
This song came out some time after the Band Aid song from the UK, which led to the Live Aid concert. And Michael Jackson is said to have refused to appear at Live Aid, because it wasn't organised by an American! Others on this song, such as Tina Turner (great woman) and Dylan did bother to turn out for Live Aid. So this song didn't lead the help for Ethiopia, it followed the example set by Band Aid.
Quite the collection of musicians. So many diverse voices, all superstars.
The song “We Are the World” was recorded on January 28, 1985 by the supergroup USA for Africa and released on March 7, 1985. The song was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian. The single was a charity effort to raise money and awareness for famine victims in Africa and sold over 800,000 copies in its first three days, eventually raising more than $60 million
You really should give Cindy Lauper a listen, yes she's a little odd, but that's what makes her who she is. She has done some great stuff.
You really need to rewatch this video they all can sang
Did I say they can't?
@@BisscuteReacts you said the the lady in red and yellow hair Cindy laupers 🤦🏽♀️
So iconic, a chorus of legends. Miss those days.❤
Greatest group of singer songwriters ever put together in one place. Nothing close.
Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson wrote the song. Sheila E. was the woman who did not sing. She might have been pissed that Prince refused to come. They were very close. She was also supposed to have a solo, but that never happened.