On January 28, 1985, a who’s who of recording artists united as U.S.A. For Africa gathered to record the iconic charity single “We Are The World.” The single would go on to be a major hit, landing at No. 1 on several charts the world over and, along with promotional merchandise and public donations, garnered more than $63 million in humanitarian aid. But how did it all come together? We’ll soon see the story unfold in the upcoming Netflix documentary The Greatest Night In Pop.
The Greatest Night In Pop will show us some of the process of the song’s creation and how each of the many celebrities — including songwriters Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, producer Quincy Jones and the high-wattage likes of Stevie Wonder, Bette Midler, Tina Turner, Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Sheila E., Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen, orchestrator Harry Belafonte and many, many more — came to join the project. But its main focus will be on that magical, one-night-only session and the challenges (and disasters) that bringing so many chart-topping musicians together in one room can bring.
The documentary will feature a mixture of archival footage from the recording session as well as modern-day interviews with key players who brought the song to fruition. All in all, it will tell the story of how such a monumental moment in time came to be and what it means today.
The Greatest Night In Pop is set to premiere on Netflix on Monday, January 29th, just in time for the single’s 39th anniversary. You can view the film’s trailer below.
