So, with all of the goings on of the last few days and today I got a chance to be reminded of this song again, and I must say I forgot how powerful this song really was. Damn, listen to the lyrics and read up on it. This was truly something special when you look at the cast of big time artists that got involved with this. More info if you keep reading
from wiki:
“We Are the World” is a 1985 song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, produced and conducted by Quincy Jones and recorded by a supergroup of 45 popular musicians billed as USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa). The charity single was intended to raise funds to help famine-relief efforts in Ethiopia, which had experienced unusual drought and political instability in 1984/1985
History
The song was inspired by the charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” which had been released a few months prior in November 1984. After that performance, which mostly included British musicians, Band Aid organizer Bob Geldof attempted to contact American musicians for an American Christmas charity single, but he had little luck in getting the musicians to reorganize their schedules for recording. Harry Belafonte, who had not been contacted by Geldof, contacted music manager Ken Kragen about putting together a concert to help raise money for African causes.
A temporary, but severe, drought in Ethiopia during 1984/1985, had decimated local food supplies, and famine relief was still needed for 6 countries, noted by the United Nations (UN): Ethiopia (commonly in news reports), Chad, Mali, Niger, Sudan and Mozambique. Kragen, the manager of Lionel Richie and Kenny Rogers, didn’t believe that a concert would make enough of a difference and suggested a charity single instead, including about a dozen artists. However, response from musicians was overwhelming, and Kragen turned down about 50 artists who wished to appear on the song.
Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote the song for the group, knowing there were people dying in Africa. Quincy Jones agreed to produce and sent a demo to all the participating artists, along with a note to “check their egos at the door”.
Vocal format
Jones worked out which singers would perform which lyrics, studying recordings of each of the selected singers to decide which would work well with each other. He paired Billy Joel with Tina Turner and Willie Nelson with Dionne Warwick. Michael Jackson was to be paired with Prince, but Prince was a no-show for the recording, so Jackson was paired with Diana Ross instead.
During the performance, the solo portions allowed the distinctive voices of the well-known lead singers to be heard individually, or in pairs, before the entire ensemble sang the third repetition of the chorus. Later into the song, the climax is intensified by a modulation from E to F.
The arrangement created a dramatic effect by having the entire group sing together, but only after many of the celebrity singers were each revealed in solo/duet parts, with two repetitions of the chorus as solos/duets. The bridge was also sung as solos and duets by Michael Jackson, Huey Lewis, Kim Carnes, and Cyndi Lauper, building the crescendo into the entire group singing “We are the world, we are the children….”
The audio effect of the various reveals, by their famous solo voices, was also repeated in the video version, with closeup views of each singing artist before the entire singing group was shown (the video is a composite of multiple filmings). That sequence of reveals was a result of the pairings made by Quincy Jones.
Although the single wasn’t released until March 7, 1985 (5 weeks after the studio sessions), the anticipated impact of USA for Africa was already being mentioned, by the United Nations, on 1 June 1985, within 3 months of the album’s release.
Ultimately, the single sold 7.5 million copies in the US. It was released on an album, We Are the World, which sold over three million copies. In addition to “We Are the World,” the album included previously unreleased songs by Prince, Springsteen, Rogers, Turner and other artists. It also included another famine relief fundraising song, “Tears Are Not Enough”, which was performed by Canadian supergroup Northern Lights.
Including revenues from the single, the album, the video and related merchandise, “We Are the World” raised over $63 million for famine relief.
The sales of the recordings raised many millions of dollars, and supplies were sent to Africa. The following year, the typical rains returned to central Africa, food crops recovered, and the famine crisis was abated. The song had inspired millions of people to help, and many lives were saved.
The song went on to win four 1985 Grammys for: Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.
Lionel Richie stated that 11 lawsuits were filed claiming others had written the song.
