“We Are the World” was a 1985 charity single for African famine relief that included the voices of Michael Jackson, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, Lionel Richie, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen.
Fans get a chance to almost step into that recording session this month with the Netflix documentary “The Greatest Night in Pop,” a behind-the-scenes look at the complex birth of a megahit. It starts streaming Monday.
“It’s a celebration of the power of creativity and the power of collective humanity,” says producer Julia Nottingham. “The amazing thing about the song is it’s such an inspiration for so many artists.”
The filmmakers got fresh insights after landing interviews with Richie, Springsteen, Robinson, Cyndi Lauper, Kenny Loggins, Dionne Warwick and Huey Lewis — and for an added bonus spoke to them inside A&M Studios, the site of their triumph in 1985.
“I knew it was important to recreate those memories by just sort of walking into that room and what that energy created for them,” said director Bao Nguyen, who was only 2 when the single came out.
The filmmakers married never-beforeseen footage taken from four cameras that captured the USA for Africa session with audio from journalist David Breskin, offering insight into the dynamics and drama in the room that the official music video could not.
“The Greatest Night in Pop” isn’t shy about exploring some of the more unflattering things, like Al Jarreau having a bit too much wine and how Dylan was out of his element, needing Wonder to mimic how the Nobel laureate might approach his solo.
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