A Reason To Smile
By Dan Rather and Team Steady

Credit: Getty Images

I confess I don’t know much about popular music. I am more of a country music guy, but I recently came upon a new documentary on Netflix that might be worth your time. It is called “The Greatest Night in Pop” and is about the making of the song “We Are the World.” Even I have heard that song, which came out almost 40 years ago. The song and the video were a huge hit.

“We Are the World” has sold more than 20 million copies. It became the fastest-selling pop song of all time, won four Grammys, and, most importantly, raised tens of millions of dollars for famine relief in Africa.

How the song and video came to be is the subject of the documentary.

The idea for the song was the brainchild of entertainer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte. The song was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie — but how to get dozens of the biggest stars in the music industry together to record it? After the American Music Awards telecast in January 1985, Richie and co-producer Quincy Jones corralled Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Cyndi Lauper, Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, and Tina Turner, to name a few, into an L.A. recording studio. More than 45 entertainers left the studio at 7:00 the next morning with a hit on their hands.

The documentary is full of interesting anecdotes, but one of the best is about one of my favorite singers, Waylon Jennings. Early in the morning, Stevie Wonder suggested they sing some lines in Swahili. A number of artists didn’t love the idea. Ray Charles reportedly complained, “It’s three o’clock in the g-damn mornin’ – I can’t even sing in English no more.” Jennings grew so frustrated he walked out, saying, “No good old boy sings in Swahili.” Ultimately the Swahili lines were not recorded.

“We Are the World” is a reminder that people are capable of coming together for good. A reminder we can all use right now. Along with a smile. 🎵

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