If you weren’t around at the time, it’s hard to explain just how huge We Are the World was. Recorded by a supergroup of popular musicians — assembled on the fly on the night of the 1985 American Music Awards — the charity single benefiting Ethiopian famine victims sold more than 20 million copies and featured the likes of Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Diana Ross. (It feels impossible to imagine so many megastars assembling in one room for something like this today.)
Luckily for us, there were cameras rolling the entire time as dozens of the world’s most famous musicians pulled the epic all-night recording session. The recently departed Quincy Jones proves to be the night’s true star, wrangling a studio full of nerves, egos and a little too much wine to produce something genuinely special.
Watch The Greatest Night in Pop on Netflix
