close Video Bao Nguyen shares 'wildest' moment filming 'We Are the World' documentary Nguyen told Fox News Digital he was most surprised by Sheila E.'s role in the 1985 performance. Lionel Richie could barely imagine recreating the magic that happened on Jan.
28, 1985, when "We Are the World" came together. Richie and Michael Jackson co-wrote the charity song to raise money for African famine relief, and what started as a small endeavor soon turned into a massive undertaking involving gathering 46 of the biggest music stars on earth recording together in one session. Entertainment manager Ken Kragen enlisted the help of Kenny Rogers , Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Ray Charles, Tina Turner and more, to sing on the commercially successful pop single, which topped the music charts, earned four Grammy Awards, and raised more than $80 million in humanitarian aid.
MADONNA, PRINCE ‘WE ARE THE WORLD’ SNUB IN 1985 EXPLAINED BY DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR Lionel Richie discussed the creation of "We Are the World." (Getty Images) When asked how Richie made it happen, he credited the unlikely event to "naivety." "We didn't have any distractions," he told CBS News .
"There was no Internet, there was no cellphones, there was nothing but purity of a thought, an idea and how to get it done." Richie remembered being paired up with Jackson to write the song, which was produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian. LIONEL RICHIE SAYS HIS 'ALL NIGHT LONG' IS 'DOWN TO A.
