Back in 1985, the music world rallied together for a common cause - famine relief in Africa.
Nearly 50 of the biggest artists of all time, including Lionel Richie, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Jackson, and Bruce Springsteen all teamed up to record the legendary track 'We Are The World.'
Now, a new Netflix documentary directed by Bao Nguyen takes us inside the January 25th, 1985 recording session, sharing the perspectives of those who were in the room and their 'one chance to make magic.'
Wrangling the biggest names in music at that time wasn't as tricky as you might think. Musician and activist Harry Belafonte had a "dream list" for the charity track and most of the musicians said 'yes' without hesitation.
“I said yes without knowing who was going to be on it,” Springsteen quipped in a new one-on-one interview.
Lionel Richie recalled a "full-on fight" and "so many disasters" during the recording process in 'The Greatest Night in Pop' trailer.
He added: “We only had one night to get this right.”
Richie remembered endless tapes of Michael Jackson humming drafts during their writing sessions. With no lyrics penned, the duo faced the challenge of finding the right words to "talk to the world."
“There was tremendous pressure,” echoes another voice-over during clips of the recording process.
Fast forward to the final product, and 'We Are The World' soared to #1 around the globe, becoming one of the biggest-selling singles of all time. An astounding achievement for charity, it garnered a whopping $63 million in sales.
The track also went on to win four Grammy Awards in 1986 - ‘Record of the Year, ‘Song of the Year’, ‘Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group’ and ‘Best Music Video’.
The documentary features interviews with other contributing stars like Dionne Warwick, Smokey Robinson, Kenny Loggins, and Huey Lewis.
The Greatest Night In Pop will be made available via Netflix on 29th January.
