In all actuality, Harry Belafonte was the one who started this. He was inspired by Bob Geldof’s efforts that produced Do They Know It’s Christmas. Quincy Jones became involved and approached Lionel Richie and Stevie Wonder about writing the song, but Stevie was just too busy to be part of getting it all started because he was touring(I believe), so Quincy then approached Michael Jackson about co-writing the song with Lionel Richie. Quincy Jones produced the song, he got all of these stars there one night after the American Music Awards and they worked all night getting this recorded. Just about all of these people are legends. This wasn’t just about poverty in Africa. It was to raise money to help the people living there at the time as they were living in the midst of a devastating famine
Kenny Rogers provided the the studio. At the beginning of the process, there were singers that declined the invitation to participate. When they found out later that Bruce Springsteen was going to show, those people wanted in. The response- too bad, so sad.
No joke. Who the actual HELL thought to put those two together? I don't know who it was, but apparently they're a frickin' genius. 🤷 Also, shoutout to my girl Cindy Lauper for just going for the throat in this song. 🥰
List 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
We Are the World” Chorus (alphabetically) Dan Aykroyd Harry Belafonte Lindsey Buckingham Mario Cipollina Johnny Colla Sheila E. Bob Geldof Bill Gibson Chris Hayes Sean Hopper Jackie Jackson La Toya Jackson Marlon Jackson Randy Jackson Tito Jackson Waylon Jennings Bette Midler John Oates Jeffrey Osborne The Pointer Sisters Smokey Robinson
The credits show all that participated. Even though they didn't have lead singing parts like his brother that raises his hand standing next to Latoya Jackson in the front row in a yellow jacket. The pointer Sisters, Hall & Oats and many more for a total of 46 singers in all. 👍
Such a deep and thoughtful reaction! It isn't just an Africa "thing". It's not just a UK thing. It's not even a receiver of a gift thing. Its also about the coming together of a community to give. Thank you
All of these artists are Legends in their own right. There is never a time that I hear this song and Not get emotional. I wish artists, nowadays, could do this more often, for various causes. They have the perfect platform for this. I think most artists can put their Ego aside for a good cause and the ones who can't shall not be involved.
Sad, but true, whereas I have seen at least nine of them live in concert. (My memory's fading; it could have been more.) It was a different world back then.
If I remember correctly, this wasn't in response to just poverty. There was a drought in Africa that caused a famine. A geniune food emergency. Harry Belafonte saw the reports on the news and wanted to organize something that could raise money to help. One of the very early ideas was to have a day long concert with all black artists. Then later (as posted in a reply below) it was decided than an all star song for charity (ala Do They Know it's Christmas?) would be the best way to raise funds for the cause.
You’re right. Far more than poverty. We were seeing dead or dying babies with flies buzzing around them on TV every day. The footage from Ethiopia was devastating to see. Dying people laying everywhere. This was one of the worst instances of famine many of us have seen to this day. Everyone looking like a skeleton…not an ounce of fat or meat on their bones and eyes just haunting you as they looked in the camera. This made a difference in helping raise awareness and serious money to provide aid.
We Are the World” Chorus (alphabetically) Dan Aykroyd Harry Belafonte Lindsey Buckingham Mario Cipollina Johnny Colla Sheila E. Bob Geldof Bill Gibson Chris Hayes Sean Hopper Jackie Jackson La Toya Jackson Marlon Jackson Randy Jackson Tito Jackson Waylon Jennings Bette Midler John Oates Jeffrey Osborne The Pointer Sisters Smokey Robinson Someone already listed the individual artists but this ia a list of the chorus.
Bruce Springsteen did really "feel" the importance of what they were doing. Apparently, a lot of the top "rock" acts at the time didn't want to be involved and gave him crap for participating on a "pop" song written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson. Bruce was undeterred and simply said something to the effect of, "Who cares? We're trying to feed people."
I normally don't comment, but I really enjoy your reactions. So here it goes... I think context is everything. You're reacting to a charity song, written in 83 and released in 85. Africa had been going through the worst starvation in modern history. Any aid that was attempted was usually captured by different war lords. Children were dying by the THOUSANDS DAILY. Yes, there's horrible things in every country that need help. But back in the late 70's and 80's, the world watched a continent starve and fight for food. Love your reactions. Keep up the videos
Netflix special says it was created weeks before the day it was composed on Jan 28 1985, night of the AMA's... written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie, orchestrated and composed by Quincy Jones. Inspired by Harry Belafonté, who was inspired by Bob Geldof and Band Aid ( Do They Know It's Christmas)... to raise money for Ethiopia, who were dying of starvation. Which ultimately inspired LIVE AID💜💜💜 LOVED Your reaction💕
This was put together by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. The one conducting this was Quincy Jones. This is very powerful. The rock singer was Bruce Springsteen. We sang this in our school when I was in 8th grade. What an impact. Glad that you enjoyed this.
Two charity concerts held simultaneously on July 13, 1985 at Wembley Stadium in London and at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. The event lasted 16 hours, featured 70 performances and was televised live in over 150 countries. It was big. Back then we didn't have an intranet or a mobile phone. It was big. I stayed up all night to catch everything. I think it did something positive with most people
it was the best day of almost global television ever. everyone in my area watched. they all had their windows open and no matter where you went you heard this concert! it was the most incredible thing ever. and kudos to phil collins jumping on concorde and being the only one to play both venues ! lol the set from Queen from this event has gone down in history as the best gig ever. rightly so! lol the way that man held the crowd and the world for those moments. lol incredible.
"Established in 1985, United Support of Artists for Africa is best known for its 1985 recording of “We Are The World” and the “Hands Across America” event in 1986. In these 35 years, USA for Africa has raised more than $100,000,000 to help ease the pain of poverty in Africa and the United States. While the challenges seemed insurmountable, our commitment stayed strong. We have accomplished our goal of creating opportunities and impacting real change. We Are the World generated $75 million dollars for famine relief and recovery and development programs in Africa. More than 500 African organizations in 21 African countries have received funding from the We Are the World project."
I love some of the pairings Diane Warrick and Willie Nelson, and Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen. You wouldn't think it would work, but its fantastic.
If I remember correctly, this all started with Live Aid in '85 at Wembley and I can't remember the arena in the US because a couple of guys were in africa and it was following a big drought and there was widedpread famine. He was shocked by what he saw and wanted to help and spearheaded live aid. The christmas song was next and then this song followed that. It was all in that same time period though, where there was a big epidemic in africa at that time due to that massive drought. People just wanted to help.
Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson wrote this song. It earned $50 million dollars to feed the hungry in Africa and fight the horrible famine that was taking place there.
America especially needs to see this video and hear this song. People could learn a lot from these artists who stand side by side despite their musical differences, finical differences and racial differences. They came together and put together something amazing. Imagine if Americans dropped the race and other differences and just said WE ARE AMERICANS AND WE STAND TOGETHER this world would be so much better ❤❤
In the chorus: All the Jackson brothers and sisters, The Pointer Sisters, Harry Belafonte, Lindsay Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac, Bette Midler, Dan Akroyd, Kenny Loggins
Quincy Jones organized it. It was to raise money for Africa. This will NEVER happen again. All the superstars of the 70s and 80s in one place. Amazing. They did it after the AMAs so most were there. After the show theyvspent all night recording this.
This was done to raise money during one of the worst droughts in African history, people were dying from starvation in record numbers. Quincey gathered everyone after the Grammys. Michael and Lionel wrote the song.
These were the musical movers and shakers at there peaks 1980s and through out. Also americans particularly black americans always heard about wars and starvation, and apartments in south Africa. These were very powerful and sensitive issues. These artist were not just super talented but influential. I know that Michael was always seen traveling to Africa, but all these artist were very passionate and powerful in there performances. There were all the types that seem it was more than just the music, but the human soul and experience.
Agree with your point. Beside the fact that all they were addressing at that time 80s is still an issue today, that the might have started giving but not stopped taking... It's a nice thing to watch the making of this production, not sure who made it, some film narrated by Jane Fonda. Just interesting to see the artists, as you said the or the lack of ego.. All in a one overnight work
Bob Geldoff formed a UK supergroup to record "Do They Know It's Christmas" as the first music industry response to the mid-80's Ethiopian famine. "We Are the World" was the US music industry response. Although Geldoff was not directly involved in the US production, he spoke to the US artists at the beginning of the recording session.
First, Quincy is genius. Second, back then we were doing pretty good with coming together more. There were problems for sure, but things were improving until millennials and zoomers arrived and trashed all of the progress. Fire was stoked up and each group was told that the other hated them. It’s going to take generations to get back to the good progress that we were making in the 80’s and 90’s.
If you where to look more into what happened after the U.K and U.S had singers put songs out to help out in Africa you will find that singers from quite a few countries did so. I know that the third country that had singers do so was Canada in which they put a band together called 'Northern Lights' and the song is called " Tears are not Enough" and at some point Germany had its singers get together with singers from Belgium, Netherlands, and I believe a couple other countries that border Germany to form a band called 'Band fur Africa' or in English 'Band for Africa" and their song is called "Nackt im Wind" translated to "Naked in the Wind".
Back in the 1980's there was a massive famine occurring in several African countries (Ethiopia, among others). It wasn't just poverty, it was literal nation wide famines. I understand that many of the core causes of those famines have been corrected, and those once impoverished countries are now flourishing (not all, but many), and its because of the charitable actions of organizations such as USA For Africa and Live Aid that they were able to do so.
When this song was released in March 1985, Africa was suffering terrible drought resulting in 13 million people in Ethiopia alone, suffering starvation and malnutrition. This followed Britian's charity song "Do they know it's Christmas" by Band Aid.. released November 1984. On 13th July 1985, the British and American music industries came together to create Live Aid ; two concerts in London and Philadelphia to help raise money awareness for Africa's plight.
This music video was for the famine that was occurring in Africa in 1985 which was when this song came out. I am pretty sure that all the proceeds from this album went to feed all the starving people. I think it made about $60 million dollars world wide. The song was Michael Jacksons idea with the help of Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones the conductor.
Harry Bellafontae came up with the idea. Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson wrote the song. Quincy Jones produced it. Harry Bellafontae received a Humanitarian award in 1985 for this. You can see that on RUclips and also the making of this video documentary.
Rip Waylon Jennings 1937-2002 Ray Charles 1930-2004 June Pointer 1953-2006 Michael Jackson 1958-2009 Louis Johnson 1955-2015 Prince 1958-2016 Al Jarreau 1940-2017 James Ingram 1952-2019 Kenny Rogers 1938-2020 Ken Kragen 1936-2021 Anita Pointer 1948-2022 Harry Belafonte 1927-2023 and Tina Turner 1939-2023
@waynebryant1857 oh well, it was @@BryanMcdonough-gl9hm who made the original post that listed the names with their DOB & DOD. I don't really know the history/behind-the-scenes story of this song and video...I just saw the name Prince and was sad thinking about the circumstances of his passing.
Prince was not a part of this. He was unable to set his ego aside to be involved! Which sucks. This was an Amazing collection of Hugely Talented, Legendary Artists coming together, egos set aside, doing something Fantastic for others in need. I think Prince probably regretted his decision once he saw how incredible this turned out. And if he didn't he should have.
Bob Geldorf wanted a American song for Live Aid , so Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie wrote this song . Then Geldorf gate crashed that years Grammys and everyone came in and in one night they sang this song
Idea: Henry Belafonte (in the choral next the then musician turned actor Dan Akroyd) Written by: Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie Produced by: Quincy Jones (conductor)
I think that Michael jackson and Lionel Richie wrote this song because someone went to Africa and saw the mistreatment of children and parents who didn't have much to wear or sleep. So he said write a song with the artists who were famous at the time. Of course, Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson went to Quincy Jones. They produced and put a list of people together and nobody said no. So after an awards ceremony, they all met at the recording studio and came up with- after 3 hours- "We are the World"
🎶 You should check out the updated version.. We are the world 25 for Haiti when they had that devastating earthquake. And the reason they were raising money for Adrian back then with this song was when aides was running rapid and wiping whole villages ❤
This song was specifically about Ethiopia. They had a 10 year drought and a war that was going on. Over 1,000,000 people died. They literally had absolutely nothing to eat during this time . Because of the drought the animals all died and there was literally nothing growing. We watched this unfold on the news everyday. This wasn’t about poverty this was about something man had no control over so we all wanted to do what we could to help. It was absolutely heartbreaking to see. If you google pics of the Ethiopian drought it will show you how bad it really was. All of the money made from this song was spent to bring food and water into Ethiopia to save what lives they could.
Back then people actually had great voices, no autotune. Mike is the only one that showed up in full hair, make up and wardrobe. Lol....written by MJ and Lionel Richie..composed by Quincy Jones.
This was during the 1983-1985 famine in Ethiopia when up to 1.2 Million (Number is disputed) died of starvation. At the time it was difficult to get the governments of other countries to provide resources despite 7.75 million in danger of starving to death. Over 400,000 people fled the circumstance and became refugees.
Harry Balfonte wanted to do something for Africa. Unfortunately, he does not get a lot of credit and signing in the choir. MJ and Lionel Richie wrote the song and Quincy Produced it.
Whose idea was it? Well, Harry Belafonte was inspired by a British supergroup that recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas" to benefit victims of the famine in Africa, so he got Quincy Jones on board and he got Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie to write the song. Then they all got together to record it after the Grammy Awards. The guy you asked who he was is Bruce Springsteen.
I haven't read all of the comments so I'm sorry if this has already been said but this was not aimed at a race or a continent it was a DIRECT response to raise money for the particular famine that was going on. It was to raise money to feed those people and it followed on from the UK Bob Geldof effort.
This wasn't about poverty. It was about a drought in east Africa that went on for over a decade in which millions, upon millions simply starved to death.
I stand corrected! Mike Jackson was not the one who came up with this idea, it was Harry Belafonte. Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote the song and the rest is freaking history.
@@magnetmac1 Yes! I found that out from the documentary on Netflix, I stand corrected! His trip to Africa opened his eyes. I can't believe the pulled it off. That country singer should have stayed, but his ego wouldn't let him do it.
@@hibhibb5429 I could never figure out who was the lady in the front row who looked so disinterested. The Netflix docu answered that question. Sheila E said she felt used and that they only wanted her there to entice Prince to come. Had prince participated, he would have been a part of history. Patti Labelle and Aretha Franklin would have probably been too difficult to work with also.
@@hennesseyme9112 I think you might be right about Patti and Aretha. Sheila should have been glad to be a part of it regardless but I can understand her feeling that way. If she didn't want to be there without prince then she could have left. I doubt anyone was holding her hostage and it's not like she had an integral part in the song. No offense to her.
Dan Aykroyd Harry Belafonte Lindsey Buckingham Kim Carnes Ray Charles Bob Dylan Sheila E. Bob Geldof Hall and Oates James Ingram Jackie Jackson LaToya Jackson Marlon Jackson Michael Jackson Randy Jackson Tito Jackson Al Jarreau Waylon Jennings "Pop-Up Video" stated that he left the recording session due to a dispute over the lyrics. Billy Joel Cyndi Lauper Huey Lewis and the News Kenny Logins Bette Midler Willie Nelson Jeffery Osborne Steve Perry The Pointer Sisters Lionel Richie Smokey Robinson Kenny Rogers Diana Ross Paul Simon Bruce Springsteen Tina Turner Dionne Warwick Stevie Wonder Michael Boddicker - Synthesizers, Programming Paulinho da Costa - Percussion Louis Johnson - Bass Quincy Jones - Producer Michael Omartian - Keyboards, Producer Greg Phillinganes - Keyboards John Robinson - Drums
Someone should have told Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie that there is no script in the bible where is says that 'God turned stone to bread' as written in the song.
MY AUNT BOUGHT A RECORD TO HELP IN FEEDING THE WONDERFUL PEOPLE OF AFRICA; I WAS A TEENAGER: WE BOTH CRIED: ALSO, THE AIDS VIRUS WAS HIGH IN AFRICA AT THAT TIME ALSO. THEY SHOWED VIDEO OF MANY TRAVELING TO AFRICA TO MAKE SURE THE PEOPLE GOT THE FOOD.
so the cheap joke is, in 1984 the uk, thanks to midge ure and bob geldof said, feed the world. in 1985 the usa responded with we are the world. but what an amazing thing it was artists coming together and cutting right through the politics and the media and dictating what was topical. This was a moment in history. We evolved here. people power works and it works well.
There are many documentaries on how this was made what it was, and what it meant at the time. Please educate yourself on who all these great musicians are. It is criminal that you don’t know who everyone of them or don’t ask for like or subscribe unless you’re willing to educate yourself.!!!
In all actuality, Harry Belafonte was the one who started this. He was inspired by Bob Geldof’s efforts that produced Do They Know It’s Christmas. Quincy Jones became involved and approached Lionel Richie and Stevie Wonder about writing the song, but Stevie was just too busy to be part of getting it all started because he was touring(I believe), so Quincy then approached Michael Jackson about co-writing the song with Lionel Richie. Quincy Jones produced the song, he got all of these stars there one night after the American Music Awards and they worked all night getting this recorded. Just about all of these people are legends.
This wasn’t just about poverty in Africa. It was to raise money to help the people living there at the time as they were living in the midst of a devastating famine
Kenny Rogers provided the the studio. At the beginning of the process, there were singers that declined the invitation to participate. When they found out later that Bruce Springsteen was going to show, those people wanted in. The response- too bad, so sad.
Stevie and Bruce!! The duet you never knew you needed!!
No joke. Who the actual HELL thought to put those two together? I don't know who it was, but apparently they're a frickin' genius. 🤷 Also, shoutout to my girl Cindy Lauper for just going for the throat in this song. 🥰
It’s like salted caramel. A sweetie and a salty. Best combo ever
From what I understand, Quincy Jones did the "vocal casting", putting solo voices with certain lines depending on who sounds best where.@@RJay207
THIS is ABSOLUTELY my MOST favorite SCENE RIGHT THERE! The one you just mentioned!
List 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
Thank you! 💖😊
We Are the World” Chorus (alphabetically)
Dan Aykroyd
Harry Belafonte
Lindsey Buckingham
Mario Cipollina
Johnny Colla
Sheila E.
Bob Geldof
Bill Gibson
Chris Hayes
Sean Hopper
Jackie Jackson
La Toya Jackson
Marlon Jackson
Randy Jackson
Tito Jackson
Waylon Jennings
Bette Midler
John Oates
Jeffrey Osborne
The Pointer Sisters
Smokey Robinson
The time tags are a bit off.
@Escorpio123PS OMG. I only copied the way it was written. Times depend on when the reactors start it. So sorry we can't be perfect
The credits show all that participated. Even though they didn't have lead singing parts like his brother that raises his hand standing next to Latoya Jackson in the front row in a yellow jacket. The pointer Sisters, Hall & Oats and many more for a total of 46 singers in all. 👍
Such a deep and thoughtful reaction! It isn't just an Africa "thing". It's not just a UK thing. It's not even a receiver of a gift thing. Its also about the coming together of a community to give. Thank you
I’m so glad your seeing this,I’m 65 and it was iconic in my 30,s ❤❤❤
Our Legends of 1985, gen x generation,back when there was so much live with no fear to the world. I'm so blessed to have grown up back then.
All of these artists are Legends in their own right. There is never a time that I hear this song and Not get emotional. I wish artists, nowadays, could do this more often, for various causes. They have the perfect platform for this. I think most artists can put their Ego aside for a good cause and the ones who can't shall not be involved.
This should be replayed lon the airwaves as a reminder ❤❤❤
I've watched so many of your videos lately that I've been saying, "Oh my days" almost every day 😄
Oh wow. I am glad that it is spreading lol. Thank you so much for your support.
Same!
Some of the younger people wouldn't know half of these talented artists.
Sad, but true, whereas I have seen at least nine of them live in concert. (My memory's fading; it could have been more.) It was a different world back then.
I watched this a hundred times and still get emotional. 🥲The song is 39 years old; came out in 1985.Thanks for reacting!💖
If I remember correctly, this wasn't in response to just poverty. There was a drought in Africa that caused a famine. A geniune food emergency. Harry Belafonte saw the reports on the news and wanted to organize something that could raise money to help. One of the very early ideas was to have a day long concert with all black artists. Then later (as posted in a reply below) it was decided than an all star song for charity (ala Do They Know it's Christmas?) would be the best way to raise funds for the cause.
You’re right. Far more than poverty. We were seeing dead or dying babies with flies buzzing around them on TV every day. The footage from Ethiopia was devastating to see. Dying people laying everywhere. This was one of the worst instances of famine many of us have seen to this day. Everyone looking like a skeleton…not an ounce of fat or meat on their bones and eyes just haunting you as they looked in the camera. This made a difference in helping raise awareness and serious money to provide aid.
We Are the World” Chorus (alphabetically)
Dan Aykroyd
Harry Belafonte
Lindsey Buckingham
Mario Cipollina
Johnny Colla
Sheila E.
Bob Geldof
Bill Gibson
Chris Hayes
Sean Hopper
Jackie Jackson
La Toya Jackson
Marlon Jackson
Randy Jackson
Tito Jackson
Waylon Jennings
Bette Midler
John Oates
Jeffrey Osborne
The Pointer Sisters
Smokey Robinson
Someone already listed the individual artists but this ia a list of the chorus.
Bruce Springsteen did really "feel" the importance of what they were doing. Apparently, a lot of the top "rock" acts at the time didn't want to be involved and gave him crap for participating on a "pop" song written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson. Bruce was undeterred and simply said something to the effect of, "Who cares? We're trying to feed people."
OMG gotta love a good ol' Jersey boy... Bruce Springsteen.. oh yessssssssssssss
How introspective, wonderful commentary, I hope more can hear your message - well done, sir!
That DUDE is THE BOSS. Bruce springsteen.
That is only the second "who's that dude" and the first one was Billy Joel.
The whole world came together when this song first aired.
Netflix just did a documentary on how they put this all together,called The Greatest Night in Pop
There's also a video of the making of this on RUclips.
I normally don't comment, but I really enjoy your reactions. So here it goes...
I think context is everything. You're reacting to a charity song, written in 83 and released in 85.
Africa had been going through the worst starvation in modern history.
Any aid that was attempted was usually captured by different war lords.
Children were dying by the THOUSANDS DAILY.
Yes, there's horrible things in every country that need help.
But back in the late 70's and 80's, the world watched a continent starve and fight for food.
Love your reactions. Keep up the videos
It was written in December of '84
Well written,beautifully explained ❤❤
Netflix special says it was created weeks before the day it was composed on Jan 28 1985, night of the AMA's... written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie, orchestrated and composed by Quincy Jones.
Inspired by Harry Belafonté, who was inspired by Bob Geldof and Band Aid ( Do They Know It's Christmas)... to raise money for Ethiopia, who were dying of starvation.
Which ultimately inspired LIVE AID💜💜💜
LOVED Your reaction💕
This was put together by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. The one conducting this was Quincy Jones. This is very powerful. The rock singer was Bruce Springsteen. We sang this in our school when I was in 8th grade. What an impact. Glad that you enjoyed this.
"Well, well, well!" My favorite part from Cyndi Lauper 🗣💖
SO MUCH talent in one room.. AMAZING !!!!
Two charity concerts held simultaneously on July 13, 1985 at Wembley Stadium in London and at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. The event lasted 16 hours, featured 70 performances and was televised live in over 150 countries. It was big. Back then we didn't have an intranet or a mobile phone. It was big. I stayed up all night to catch everything. I think it did something positive with most people
it was the best day of almost global television ever. everyone in my area watched. they all had their windows open and no matter where you went you heard this concert! it was the most incredible thing ever. and kudos to phil collins jumping on concorde and being the only one to play both venues ! lol the set from Queen from this event has gone down in history as the best gig ever.
rightly so! lol the way that man held the crowd and the world for those moments. lol incredible.
"Established in 1985, United Support of Artists for Africa is best known for its 1985 recording of “We Are The World” and the “Hands Across America” event in 1986. In these 35 years, USA for Africa has raised more than $100,000,000 to help ease the pain of poverty in Africa and the United States. While the challenges seemed insurmountable, our commitment stayed strong. We have accomplished our goal of creating opportunities and impacting real change.
We Are the World generated $75 million dollars for famine relief and recovery and development programs in Africa. More than 500 African organizations in 21 African countries have received funding from the We Are the World project."
I love some of the pairings Diane Warrick and Willie Nelson, and Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen. You wouldn't think it would work, but its fantastic.
Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder are like fire and ice! A great choice 👵🏼💜☮️
If I remember correctly, this all started with Live Aid in '85 at Wembley and I can't remember the arena in the US because a couple of guys were in africa and it was following a big drought and there was widedpread famine. He was shocked by what he saw and wanted to help and spearheaded live aid. The christmas song was next and then this song followed that. It was all in that same time period though, where there was a big epidemic in africa at that time due to that massive drought. People just wanted to help.
Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson wrote this song. It earned $50 million dollars to feed the hungry in Africa and fight the horrible famine that was taking place there.
America especially needs to see this video and hear this song. People could learn a lot from these artists who stand side by side despite their musical differences, finical differences and racial differences. They came together and put together something amazing. Imagine if Americans dropped the race and other differences and just said WE ARE AMERICANS AND WE STAND TOGETHER this world would be so much better ❤❤
In the chorus: All the Jackson brothers and sisters, The Pointer Sisters, Harry Belafonte, Lindsay Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac, Bette Midler, Dan Akroyd, Kenny Loggins
(Kenny Loggins was not chorus; he had a lead part.)
Quincy Jones organized it. It was to raise money for Africa. This will NEVER happen again. All the superstars of the 70s and 80s in one place. Amazing. They did it after the AMAs so most were there. After the show theyvspent all night recording this.
Actually, the entire project was Harry Belafonte idea.
This was done to raise money during one of the worst droughts in African history, people were dying from starvation in record numbers. Quincey gathered everyone after the Grammys. Michael and Lionel wrote the song.
These were the musical movers and shakers at there peaks 1980s and through out. Also americans particularly black americans always heard about wars and starvation, and apartments in south Africa. These were very powerful and sensitive issues. These artist were not just super talented but influential. I know that Michael was always seen traveling to Africa, but all these artist were very passionate and powerful in there performances. There were all the types that seem it was more than just the music, but the human soul and experience.
So beautiful!
Agree with your point. Beside the fact that all they were addressing at that time 80s is still an issue today, that the might have started giving but not stopped taking... It's a nice thing to watch the making of this production, not sure who made it, some film narrated by Jane Fonda. Just interesting to see the artists, as you said the or the lack of ego.. All in a one overnight work
Bob Geldoff formed a UK supergroup to record "Do They Know It's Christmas" as the first music industry response to the mid-80's Ethiopian famine. "We Are the World" was the US music industry response. Although Geldoff was not directly involved in the US production, he spoke to the US artists at the beginning of the recording session.
Someone should make this video and show the names of each person singing.
First, Quincy is genius.
Second, back then we were doing pretty good with coming together more. There were problems for sure, but things were improving until millennials and zoomers arrived and trashed all of the progress. Fire was stoked up and each group was told that the other hated them. It’s going to take generations to get back to the good progress that we were making in the 80’s and 90’s.
The PEOPLE in the USA need to hear this song over and over again in 2023! IMHO! 🤔🤗🥰🇩🇪🇨🇭🇺🇲💙🌊💙🌊💙🌊💙🌊💙🌊💙🌊
Michael wrote this for the most part with Lionel, and it raised @ $63mil which in today would be @ $200 million ❤ With Love, your newest sub ❤️
Thank you Mistique77, now that was some dedication and commitment i feel from this group. Welcome on board.
@@Kings-003 Thank you 😊 🙏
If you where to look more into what happened after the U.K and U.S had singers put songs out to help out in Africa you will find that singers from quite a few countries did so. I know that the third country that had singers do so was Canada in which they put a band together called 'Northern Lights' and the song is called " Tears are not Enough" and at some point Germany had its singers get together with singers from Belgium, Netherlands, and I believe a couple other countries that border Germany to form a band called 'Band fur Africa' or in English 'Band for Africa" and their song is called "Nackt im Wind" translated to "Naked in the Wind".
Back in the 1980's there was a massive famine occurring in several African countries (Ethiopia, among others). It wasn't just poverty, it was literal nation wide famines. I understand that many of the core causes of those famines have been corrected, and those once impoverished countries are now flourishing (not all, but many), and its because of the charitable actions of organizations such as USA For Africa and Live Aid that they were able to do so.
This was recorded on January 28, 1985
Bruce Springteen
We really needs reality in this world. An unselfish generation begins with unselfish parents raising up unselfish childrens.
The good parts of humanity came together on that night.
When this song was released in March 1985, Africa was suffering terrible drought resulting in 13 million people in Ethiopia alone, suffering starvation and malnutrition.
This followed Britian's charity song "Do they know it's Christmas" by Band Aid.. released November 1984.
On 13th July 1985, the British and American music industries came together to create Live Aid ; two concerts in London and Philadelphia to help raise money awareness for Africa's plight.
Dan ganas d llorar...q bonito Michael ..nos dejaste generosidad❤❤ y luego q digan q denego d su raza y abuso d niños...gran. Michael❤
This music video was for the famine that was occurring in Africa in 1985 which was when this song came out. I am pretty sure that all the proceeds from this album went to feed all the starving people. I think it made about $60 million dollars world wide. The song was Michael Jacksons idea with the help of Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones the conductor.
Harry Bellafontae came up with the idea. Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson wrote the song. Quincy Jones produced it. Harry Bellafontae received a Humanitarian award in 1985 for this. You can see that on RUclips and also the making of this video documentary.
Rip
Waylon Jennings 1937-2002
Ray Charles 1930-2004
June Pointer 1953-2006
Michael Jackson 1958-2009
Louis Johnson 1955-2015
Prince 1958-2016
Al Jarreau 1940-2017
James Ingram 1952-2019
Kenny Rogers 1938-2020
Ken Kragen 1936-2021
Anita Pointer 1948-2022
Harry Belafonte 1927-2023
and Tina Turner 1939-2023
😢 oh, Prince and Michael... I still cry whenever I think about them. Gone much too soon, which is way too common with these massive talents.
@@ImaCatMaia I know
@@ImaCatMaiaprince wasn’t in this
@waynebryant1857 oh well, it was @@BryanMcdonough-gl9hm who made the original post that listed the names with their DOB & DOD. I don't really know the history/behind-the-scenes story of this song and video...I just saw the name Prince and was sad thinking about the circumstances of his passing.
Prince was not a part of this. He was unable to set his ego aside to be involved! Which sucks. This was an Amazing collection of Hugely Talented, Legendary Artists coming together, egos set aside, doing something Fantastic for others in need. I think Prince probably regretted his decision once he saw how incredible this turned out. And if he didn't he should have.
I've always wondered why Bette Midler never got to sing her own line, as she would have smashed it.
Bob Geldorf wanted a American song for Live Aid , so Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie wrote this song . Then Geldorf gate crashed that years Grammys and everyone came in and in one night they sang this song
Idea: Henry Belafonte (in the choral next the then musician turned actor Dan Akroyd)
Written by: Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie
Produced by: Quincy Jones (conductor)
I think that Michael jackson and Lionel Richie wrote this song because someone went to Africa and saw the mistreatment of children and parents who didn't have much to wear or sleep. So he said write a song with the artists who were famous at the time. Of course, Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson went to Quincy Jones. They produced and put a list of people together and nobody said no. So after an awards ceremony, they all met at the recording studio and came up with- after 3 hours- "We are the World"
🎶 You should check out the updated version.. We are the world 25 for Haiti when they had that devastating earthquake.
And the reason they were raising money for Adrian back then with this song was when aides was running rapid and wiping whole villages ❤
The rock guy was Bruce Springsteen. He did a cover of night shift last year. Check it out
This song was specifically about Ethiopia. They had a 10 year drought and a war that was going on. Over 1,000,000 people died. They literally had absolutely nothing to eat during this time . Because of the drought the animals all died and there was literally nothing growing. We watched this unfold on the news everyday. This wasn’t about poverty this was about something man had no control over so we all wanted to do what we could to help. It was absolutely heartbreaking to see. If you google pics of the Ethiopian drought it will show you how bad it really was. All of the money made from this song was spent to bring food and water into Ethiopia to save what lives they could.
Back then people actually had great voices, no autotune. Mike is the only one that showed up in full hair, make up and wardrobe. Lol....written by MJ and Lionel Richie..composed by Quincy Jones.
There were no autotune back in 1985.
This was during the 1983-1985 famine in Ethiopia when up to 1.2 Million (Number is disputed) died of starvation. At the time it was difficult to get the governments of other countries to provide resources despite 7.75 million in danger of starving to death. Over 400,000 people fled the circumstance and became refugees.
Nice video
the guy at 3.54 is bruce springstein
As far as I remember.. this was Michael's vision and song..
Someone should have told Michael Jackson that there is no script in the bible where is says that 'God turned stone to bread' as written in the song.
Its almost a spiritual experience..
This was a reaction to a very specific situation: drought in Ethiopia.
Harry Bellefonte put this together and I think Micheal and Lionel Richie wrote it, Michael put it togetjer the night before they did it!
The men you ask about are Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen.
Harry Balfonte wanted to do something for Africa. Unfortunately, he does not get a lot of credit and signing in the choir. MJ and Lionel Richie wrote the song and Quincy Produced it.
Whose idea was it? Well, Harry Belafonte was inspired by a British supergroup that recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas" to benefit victims of the famine in Africa, so he got Quincy Jones on board and he got Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie to write the song. Then they all got together to record it after the Grammy Awards.
The guy you asked who he was is Bruce Springsteen.
I haven't read all of the comments so I'm sorry if this has already been said but this was not aimed at a race or a continent it was a DIRECT response to raise money for the particular famine that was going on. It was to raise money to feed those people and it followed on from the UK Bob Geldof effort.
This wasn't about poverty. It was about a drought in east Africa that went on for over a decade in which millions, upon millions simply starved to death.
You need to check out Band Aid - Do they know it's Christmas where it all began before USA for Africa.
I think Michael Jacson
I stand corrected! Mike Jackson was not the one who came up with this idea, it was Harry Belafonte. Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote the song and the rest is freaking history.
Michael Jackson only wrote the song (with Lionel Richie), he did not come up with the idea at all.
That credit goes to Harry Belafonte.
@@magnetmac1 Yes! I found that out from the documentary on Netflix, I stand corrected! His trip to Africa opened his eyes. I can't believe the pulled it off. That country singer should have stayed, but his ego wouldn't let him do it.
@@hennesseyme9112 Prince couldn't get his ego in check either. SAD.
@@hibhibb5429 I could never figure out who was the lady in the front row who looked so disinterested. The Netflix docu answered that question. Sheila E said she felt used and that they only wanted her there to entice Prince to come. Had prince participated, he would have been a part of history. Patti Labelle and Aretha Franklin would have probably been too difficult to work with also.
@@hennesseyme9112 I think you might be right about Patti and Aretha. Sheila should have been glad to be a part of it regardless but I can understand her feeling that way. If she didn't want to be there without prince then she could have left. I doubt anyone was holding her hostage and it's not like she had an integral part in the song. No offense to her.
Michael jackson and Lionel Ritchie
Dan Aykroyd
Harry Belafonte
Lindsey Buckingham
Kim Carnes
Ray Charles
Bob Dylan
Sheila E.
Bob Geldof
Hall and Oates
James Ingram
Jackie Jackson
LaToya Jackson
Marlon Jackson
Michael Jackson
Randy Jackson
Tito Jackson
Al Jarreau
Waylon Jennings
"Pop-Up Video" stated that he left the recording session due to a dispute over the lyrics.
Billy Joel
Cyndi Lauper
Huey Lewis and the News
Kenny Logins
Bette Midler
Willie Nelson
Jeffery Osborne
Steve Perry
The Pointer Sisters
Lionel Richie
Smokey Robinson
Kenny Rogers
Diana Ross
Paul Simon
Bruce Springsteen
Tina Turner
Dionne Warwick
Stevie Wonder
Michael Boddicker - Synthesizers, Programming
Paulinho da Costa - Percussion
Louis Johnson - Bass
Quincy Jones - Producer
Michael Omartian - Keyboards, Producer
Greg Phillinganes - Keyboards
John Robinson - Drums
Where has the world fallen to where people dont know Bruce Springsteen. Heck i dont listen to him but i do know who he is.
Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones made this.
Micheal Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote the song
This was Michael Jackson's project. It raised a great deal of money. The guy you are asking about is Bruce Springsteen.
Michael Jackson was heavily involved, but it is a bit of a stretch to label it as his project.
all these great stars did this for hours for free to raise money for kids for something to eat
Dan Aykroyd
I think Michael Jackson started this project. But I believe the original idea came from Bob Geldof with his Live Aid in the UK.
You're way off.
The idea came from Harry Belafonte.
Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote the song.
Quincy Jones produced it.
Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson put that together.
Someone should have told Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie that there is no script in the bible where is says that 'God turned stone to bread' as written in the song.
MY AUNT BOUGHT A RECORD TO HELP IN FEEDING THE WONDERFUL PEOPLE OF AFRICA; I WAS A TEENAGER: WE BOTH CRIED: ALSO, THE AIDS VIRUS WAS HIGH IN AFRICA AT THAT TIME ALSO. THEY SHOWED VIDEO OF MANY TRAVELING TO AFRICA TO MAKE SURE THE PEOPLE GOT THE FOOD.
so the cheap joke is, in 1984 the uk, thanks to midge ure and bob geldof said, feed the world. in 1985 the usa responded with we are the world.
but what an amazing thing it was
artists coming together and cutting right through the politics and the media and dictating what was topical.
This was a moment in history. We evolved here. people power works and it works well.
James Inghram
Michael Jackson had it started . no one else
Nice try
It's not the 30s or 40s, dude. Its the 80s. Not super old. And you'll be that old too.
There are many documentaries on how this was made what it was, and what it meant at the time. Please educate yourself on who all these great musicians are. It is criminal that you don’t know who everyone of them or don’t ask for like or subscribe unless you’re willing to educate yourself.!!!
nice reaction but you need to speak louder :)