“We only had one night to get this right,” says Richie in Netflix’s upcoming film, ‘The Greatest Night in Pop,’ about creating the 1985 hit
Getting dozens of music’s biggest acts in one room to record the legendary 1985 charity single “We Are the World” was no easy feat.
On Tuesday, Netflix unveiled the trailer for The Greatest Night in Pop, a new documentary chronicling the complicated writing and recording process behind crafting “We Are the World” through the eyes of several musicians who lived it: Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauperand more.
The Bao Nguyen-directed film utilizes both archival footage and new interviews to tell the story of how Harry Belafonte enlisted Richie, 74, and Michael Jackson to write the benefit anthem to raise funds for African famine relief.
Writing the song was one accomplishment, but then came the task of getting every single artist in the same studio for the now-iconic “We Are the World” recording session on Jan. 25, 1985.
“The greatest artists of a generation came together to save some lives, but we only had one night to get this right,” says Richie in the film’s trailer, throughout which he recalls experiencing a “full-on fight” and “so many disasters.” Also appearing in The Greatest Night in Pop are Smokey Robinson, Kenny Loggins, Dionne Warwick and Huey Lewis, all of whom featured on the song.
The documentary will make its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 19 before it becomes available to stream on Netflix starting Jan. 29.
We Are the World,” produced by Quincy Jonesand Michael Omartian, became a massive hit upon its March 1985 release, reaching No. 1 on charts in several countries and becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time.
The song went on to win four Grammy Awards at the 1986 ceremony: record of the year, song of the year, best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal and best music video, short form.
Richie and Jackson’s composition also proved beneficial for the cause, making a whopping $63 million in sales.
During a 2016 interview at a Grammy Week event titled Arts & Ideas: Conversations @The Wallis, the Commodores musician recalled some of the chaos that went into the creation of “We Are the World.”
