After it’s initial debut at this year’s Sundance Film Festival just last week, “The Greatest Night in Pop,”—the documentary chronicling the making of the hit 1985 song “We Are the World—is now available on Netflix.
During the nearly two-hour-long doc, the feature shined a light on the process of gathering nearly 40 of music’s biggest names for one night only to create a song intended to raise awareness and money for a worldwide hunger relief program. The move was largely inspired by a then famine happening in Ethiopia with the ideation of the song stemming from the UK-based group Band Aid, previously released charity single, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
But if you thought that was all the tea spilled—guess again! Keep reading to find out more surprising facts about how the “greatest night in pop” really went down.
The Recording of “We Are the World” Happened Directly After the 1985 American Music Awards
After deciding that a massive song like this was the plan, it would take all of heaven and earth to figure out a date that would be conducive to everyone’s schedules. Between Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick, The Jacksons, Al Jarreau, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen, Steve Perry, Ray Charles and more—trying to tie them down in one place for one night would be a logistical dumpster-fire.
That’s when Lionel Richie—who’d recently been tasked with hosting the American Music Awards—got the bright idea for the legendary recording session to take place directly after the show as that would hopefully guarantee a bigger turn out.
Stevie Wonder was Originally Asked to Write It—Not Michael Jackson
When Harry Belafonte, Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones had all gotten on board, Richie’s next move was to call Stevie Wonder and convince him to help him write it. Unfortunately, Wonder never picked up the phone—despite the multiple attempts. So Michael Jackson was enlisted instead. However, during the night of the recording he tried to ask why he wasn’t asked to help write it and got his bubble bursted when he found out it was his own fault that he missed out.
Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson Took Their Sweet Time Writing It
As told by Richie himself, the opportunity to create the song came from Harry Belafonte after he witnessed the tragic famine happening in Ethiopia. At the time, however, Richie had kicked off his solo career after leaving The Commodores. Concurrently, Jackson was at his musical height, still basking in the massive success of his “Thriller” album.
Naturally, with such busy schedules, once the two of them were charged with writing the song—they didn’t end up completing it until nearly a week before all the musicians were set to record it live. To paint the picture clearer: MJ and LR finalized the song 10 days before the AMAs, turned a demo over to Quincy Jones eight days before the AMAs, they sent a demo out to all the artists via cassette and mail four days before the AMAs and arranged all the vocals two days before the AMAs.
Sheila E. Was Lowkey Used as a Prop to Get Prince to Come Sing
According to Richie, both Prince and Sheila E. had been asked to take part in “We Are the World.” They both said yes initially but thanks (or no thanks) to Prince and Michael Jackson’s rivalry (which Richie and others confirmed was a real, serious thing) and Prince’s multiple wins at the AMAs that night—he bowed out. However, Sheila still went under the guise that she’d be given a solo part in the song. But as the night went on, both Jones and Richie kept asking her to see if she could convince Prince to come and join them even though the “When Doves Cry” singer was out celebrating his wins.
Prince would later propose a compromise: he’d do it, but in a room by himself and if he could have his own guitar solo. Jones and Richie said no to both and unfortunately Prince stayed where he was at. After clocking the conversation and how the two were acting Sheila walked out of the recording before it was finished.
The Group Performed an Impromptu Harry Belafonte Tribute in the Middle of Recording
About midway through recording, Richie and Jones took the time to acknowledge Belafonte as the grand mastermind behind the whole ordeal. This sparked an impromptu singing of Belafonte’s hit, “Banana Boat (Day-O),” led by Stevie Wonder and the rest of the singers. Though the night was long, that helped lighten the mood and ended up moving Belafonte to tears.
Al Jarreau Was a Little...LIT
As the night progressed, singer Al Jarreau was helping himself to multiple glasses of wine throughout the evening. Per Richie, it was because he wanted to celebrate what they were doing but the song had yet to be completed and more importantly—Jarreau still needed to sing his solo and Richie didn’t want him to be too drunk and forget his lines. So, everytime Jarreau would tell the assistants to bring another bottle of wine, Richie would secretly grab them and take them back outside until Jarreau sung his part.
Most of Them Ate Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles and Burgers to Refuel
One of the more funny and relatable things to note is that by the time the musicians had all gotten hungry, they proposed ordering from an L.A. classic staple, Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles. While some stars indulged others opted for burgers instead.
That “Shady” Moment Between Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Huey Lewis and Kim Carnes Isn’t Exactly What You Think
In the doc, by the time it was time to record Lewis, Lauper and Carnes part, the night had run its course. A tired Lewis had grown weary of watching others re-record their parts before he’ gotten a chance to just get his one line out. Already intimidated by having to singe directly after Jackson, he was ready to be done. The same could be said of Jackson who was the very first person to show up to the session before anyone else and helped contribute to the song’s creation in the first place.
When it was finally time for Lewis, Lauper and Carnes to sing—it was Jackson who suggested that Lewis and Carnes do a two-part harmony for the line “stand together as one.” Seeing as how that wasn’t an original part of the arrangement, this put further stress on Lewis and he enlisted Jackson and Journey’s lead singer Steve Perry’s help to help him find his key. After a few attempts, they finally found their groove.
So Jackson’s stare wasn’t so much shade as it was making sure he hit the note they had all just agreed on.