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"We Are the World" is a 1985 song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie , produced and conducted by Quincy Jones and recorded by a Supergroup of popular musicians billed as USA For Africa . The Charity Single was intended to raise funds to help Famine Relief efforts in Ethiopia . HISTORY Harry Belafonte initiated the idea for a fundraising effort. His manager, Ken Kragen , suggested the multi-artist approach, inspired by the success of the British supergroup Band Aid and their 1984 fundraising single " Do They Know It's Christmas? ". The performers gathered at A&M Recording Studios in Hollywood, California , on January 28 , 1985. Kragen selected the night of the American Music Award s to ensure as many artists as possible could attend. Jones famously advised them, in his written invitation, to "check your egos at the door." In all, 45 musicians attended the recording session, including Bob Geldof , who had arranged the Band Aid effort in the United Kingdom. Lead vocals were rotated among 21 of the performers, including Kenny Rogers , Lionel Richie , Michael Jackson , Tina Turner , Billy Joel , Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen . Columbia Records donated their manufacturing and distribution costs to the effort. "We Are the World" hit stores on Tuesday, March 7 , 1985, and all 800,000 copies sold out before the end of the weekend. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #21. On April 5 ( Good Friday in that year), more than 5,000 Radio Station s played the song at the same time. It became the United States' #1 single on April 13 and held the position for 4 weeks. The song went on to win 1985 Grammys for Song Of The Year , Record Of The Year and Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group . Ultimately, the single sold 7.5 million copies in the US. It was released on an album, ''USA for Africa: We Are the World'', which sold over 3 million copies. In addition to "We Are the World," the album included songs by Prince , Springsteen, Turner and other artists. It also included another famine relief fundraising song, " Tears Are Not Enough ", which was performed by Canadian supergroup Northern Lights . Including revenues from the single, the album, the video and related merchandise, "We Are the World" raised about $50 million for famine relief. LYRICS One of the lines of the lyrics of the song was originally written ''there's a choice we're making, we're taking our own lives,'' but was replaced with ''there's a choice we're making, we're saving our own lives,'' because it was feared the original phrasing might be considered an invitation or reference to suicide. VH-1 's '' Pop-Up Video '' stated that Waylon Jennings left the recording session due to a dispute over the lyrics. The lyrics contain a factual error concerning a Biblical Passage . The line "As God has shown us by turning stones to bread," sung by Willie Nelson, is an inaccurate reference to Matthew 4: 1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. 3 The tempter approached and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread." 4 He said in reply, "It is written: 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.'" Thus Jesus never turned stones to bread, and in fact refused to when tempted by the devil. However, this mistake does little to damage the meaning and message of the song. SPOOFS The song has been spoofed several times over the years. The television show '' Saturday Night Live '' featured a cold opening musical sketch called "I'm Also the World" where Prince (played by Billy Crystal) sings while musicians who attempt to perform a duet with him get beaten up by Prince's bodyguards (played by then-hosts Hulk Hogan and Mr. T). The Simpsons parodied the song in the episode Radio Bart , which featured the song "We're Sending Our Love Down the Well". On the television show '' Married . . . With Children '', the Bundy family joins a group of former musicians for their song for Old Aide. The group Culturcide covered the song as "They're Not the World", with new lyrics which accused USA for Africa of being more concerned with publicity than charity. A spoof called "We Fuck the World" was aired on a French Puppet Show Les Guignols De L'Info , which criticized George W. Bush's disapproval of the Kyoto Protocol . On January 18 , 2005 a New York City radio station, WQHT-FM , played a controversial Parody of the song, entitled " USA For Indonesia ", which made derisive references to the victims of the recent South Asian Tsunami . Officials at the station were forced to apologize on January 24 , 2005 following the widespread condemnations the Parody generated. Also, in 1995, comedians Conan O'Brien and Andy Richter made a song called "Help With Your Heart", which was considered to be a parody of "We Are the World." In the sketch, Sting shows up as the only celebrity, and eventually sings some nonsense lines in the song. COVER VERSIONS On the Brazilian ''Big Brother 4'', a participant named Solange sang version called ''Iarnuou''. This cover of the original song reached #1 on Brazilian airplay for 1 month. Another 2005 remake of the song raised over $15,000 for the victims of the Indonesian tsunami. The version, produced by Steve Burguiere featured his group "Stu & the Blackhearts". Steve (aka Stu), head producer of the "Glenn Beck Program" recorded the word for word parody of the song with him and other members of the staff imitating the original singers. As well, a Cantonese version sung by a wide array of Hong Kong artists was also made in the efforts to fund relief. MUSICIANS AT THE ORIGINAL RECORDING SESSION Lead vocalists The following artists all have a line in the song (in order):
Complete list of vocalists
SONGTEXT Instrumentalists The following session musicians performed the instrumental music:
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