Lionel Richie recounts the most amazing night in pop documentary history, recording We Are the World

On Netflix Record Pop’s Greatest Nightthe atmosphere was tense as more than 40 of the top 80s musicians, including Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Diana Ross and Cyndi Lauper, had only a few hours late at night to record the song “We Are the World.”

Recalling the tension at the time, decades later, the tension still exists when the documentary premieres in January. Lionel RichieHe co-wrote the song with Michael Jackson and is a producer of the documentary.

“Huey Lewis was sitting next to me when we premiered it, and he leaned over and said to me, ‘I don’t think we can do this.’ I said, ‘Huey, that was 40 years ago. We did it,’ ” Richie said with a laugh.

The song was recorded in January 1985 by a superstar group that also included Ray Charles, Kenny Rogers, Tina Turner and Harry Belafonte – the latter of whom came up with the idea of ​​recording a song to raise money for food and relief in Ethiopia. The only suitable time for all the artists was immediately following a U.S. festival. AwardsFor the concert, hosted by Richie, the musicians gathered at a closed recording location starting around 10pm.

After an initial “chaos” coordinated by producer Quincy Jones and Richie himself, the song was finally recorded and became a global success, Richie said. A documentary directed by Bao Nguyen has also been released, which tells the emotions, tensions and triumphs behind the scenes.

“We believed we could end hunger and save lives, and it was literally happening in front of all of us,” Richie said. “It was amazing to capture that footage. It was so beautiful to see the innocence and childlikeness of us—a part of our lives that was so genuine and almost summed up why we were artists in the first place.”

The documentary has been nominated for three Emmys, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special. This is the first time that Richie, the film’s producer, has received an Emmy nomination, which he called a great honor, especially because he never thought he would be nominated for an Emmy.

Richie has worked with Hip replacement About how he was the one to tell the story of that night and all the drama involved.

What made you want to be part of this documentary?

I was driven by the fact that this story needed to be told when I realized how many people asked, “Lionel, were you there?” “What do you mean, was I there?” And then you realize that time erases what really happened. So when they sat me in that room and said, “Okay, now tell us the story of We Are the World,” I didn’t realize at the time that I was going to be the narrator. I just wrote it down, “Okay, let me give you some markers.” And what they did was piece the documentary together exactly as I said it.

What was it like walking into the studio for the first time to record this song?

Most of us were meeting each other for the first time. You walk into the room and you see Ray Charles and Bob Dylan, then Quincy Jones, and then all the cameras start rolling. I describe it like the first day of kindergarten. You know how you walk in the door and your parents leave you and you have to figure out and overcome whatever insecurities you have at the time? Well, that was it. We had to make friends as quickly as possible. I remember asking Quincy, “Are we going to have people show up one by one and start singing?” He said, “No, we’re going to have them in a circle. We’re all going to look at each other and sing.” You can’t have more pressure than that. Are you kidding? But at that particular moment, we all accepted the challenge, and we did it.

Was there anything in the documentary that surprised you?

I will tell you this: we looked very calm. But we didn’t feel it. I think everybody in the room was doing great under pressure, but inside we were all like, “Oh my god, that’s Ray Charles. Oh my god, that’s Billy Joel.” At the same time, we bonded instantly as a family, and it proved so at the end—we were hugging each other like we had been through boot camp together. I was amazed at how quickly we bonded, and even though Quincy[had a sign that said]“Get your ego down,” not once did I feel like I had ego issues. There was just this harmony of, “How can I make my character the best character ever,” and, “I hope I don’t screw this up.”

You had a tight deadline to record all the vocals, as indicated by the clock on the screen in the documentary. Did you think you could finish the song?

Bao, that’s the feeling in our stomachs when he put the clock in to put the song together. First of all, we had to get over all these talented people. Second of all, we had to keep these talented people under control. I remember Quincy saying to me, “Under no circumstances can we say, ‘I’m not sure. What do you think?'” He said, “You have 45 of the most creative artists in the world. You’re going to have 45 different versions of ‘We Are the World.’ So what we have to do is make sure the answer is, ‘We know what we’re doing.'” As you see in the documentary, we were in chaos. We went through chaos. I think once we got through that period (Stevie Wonder trying to put Swahili in the song), we were in good shape. But we didn’t start singing lead until 3, 3:30 or 4 in the morning. So we were on the fence until about 6 in the morning.

It’s interesting to see how, in the documentary, Stevie Wonder is both a troublemaker and a problem solver, especially when he’s doing his Bob Dylan voice.

That’s what makes creatives creative. We were all troublemakers in the room, and you can’t single out Steve for God’s sake. It was just that everybody had an idea, but they had to come up with a line. They only had one line to sing. The toughest guy was poor Huey (Lewis), because we always stopped before we got to him. We labeled (Steve) a troublemaker, but Steve was a savior for a lot of us. I think Bob was so overwhelmed by all the singers around him, and he was a character. I mean, his voice was iconic, but there was a moment where he was just afraid, “Maybe I have to sing this song.” But when he found out, “It sounds like Bob Dylan,” he had to go back and ask the question, “What does Bob Dylan sound like?” But once Steve got him sorted out, he was great.

Do you think artists today can still create works like “One World, One Family”?

I kept thinking (as I watched), between the tears and the laughter, that trying to do something like this today would be a bloody nightmare. I mean, it’s only because our technology has gotten to the point where you can’t sneak up on anybody because everyone will be live before you’re done.

It was amazing to be here again, to see these incredible artists just completely let their guard down and be here fully present. What you see in the documentary is, nobody brought security. Nobody brought glamour teams. Nobody brought their managers. They were in another room. But they walked into that studio on their own. That’s almost impossible today.

Have you been asked to write another “We Are the World” type song?

Oh, yes, they did. And the truth is, I told them, “The only thing we want to do is play it again.” You don’t have to write another song about people dying. You don’t have to write another song about people starving to death. You don’t have to write another song about people needing people. We need each other. So my answer has always been, “Play it again.”

If you win an Emmy for this show, you’ll only need a Tony to get an EGOT. Have you considered Broadway?

You don’t do things for the rewards, but when they do come up, it brings out that little competitive human nature that makes you say, “Hmm, I want to know.” But that’s the inner child speaking. I took the moment and just soaked it up. It’s been spectacular, and bringing this song and this story to the world, it’s the best teaching tool I can think of for this song, because now the world doesn’t have to ask the question, “Lionel, were you involved in this?”

This article originally appeared in the August standalone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, Click here to subscribe.