'We Are the World': New Netflix documentary chronicles the making of music history

From 1985: The DJs behind 'We Are the World'

In this archived WAGA-TV report, a pair of Georgia DJs explains how they helped create the 'We Are the World' campaign. Meanwhile, radio stations across the U.S. took part in a simulcast. Originally aired April 5, 1985.

NEW YORK - It's been 39 years since some of the country's greatest musicians and singers came together to record "We Are the World" album.

Music stars, such as Michael Jackson, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, Lionel Richie, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen., crammed into a Los Angeles recording studio for an all-night session hoping to make music history.

The song served as a 1985 charity single for African famine relief.

A new documentary will shed light on how the night and song came together when Netflix will release "The Greatest Night in Pop," starting Monday.

Front cover of the 'USA for Africa We are the World' record album, the music on which was designed to raise awareness and funds for a worldwide hunger relief program, 1985. The sleeve features a group photograph of the number of the contributing perf

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"It’s a celebration of the power of creativity and the power of collective humanity," says producer Julia Nottingham. "The amazing thing about the song is it’s such an inspiration for so many artists."

The filmmakers got fresh insights after landing interviews with Richie, Springsteen, Robinson, Cyndi Lauper, Kenny Loggins, Dionne Warwick and Huey Lewis — and for an added bonus spoke to them inside A&M Studios, the site of their triumph in 1985.

"I knew it was important to recreate those memories by just sort of walking into that room and what that energy created for them," said director Bao Nguyen, who was only 2 when the single came out.

A variety of music and movie stars sing "We Are The World" a song written to benefit famine victims in Ethiopia. Across the front row stands: Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Sheila E., Diana Ross, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Kim

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The documentary will include never-before-seen footage with audio from journalist David Breskin, offering insight into the dynamics and drama in the room that the official music video could not.

The film will also include some unflattering moments like Al Jarreau having a bit too much wine and how Dylan was out of his element, needing Wonder to mimic how the Nobel laureate might approach his solo.

From 1985: Detroit reacts to 'We Are the World'

In this archived report, Stan Childress takes a look at the recording of 'We Are the World' and why local Detroit radio stations decided to take part in the national effort to promote the song. Originally aired April 5, 1985.

Lauper accidentally prolonged the recording session because her jangling jewelry fouled up the recording, while Prince, who was at a Mexican restaurant on the Sunset Strip, offered to do an isolated guitar solo. Sheila E confesses she felt like she was invited to the recording session just to lure Prince in. In the end, Prince never made it, robbing the single of a Jackson-Prince double punch.

"For me, it was just important that we told a story that was honest," said Nguyen. "It is an honest story about the night and all the things that could have gone wrong — that did go wrong — but at the end of the day, it became this beautiful family."

Soloist booth song sheet used for the 1985 recording of 'We are the World', individually signed by the artists involved, including Lionel Richie, Willie Nelson and Diana Ross, which is expected to fetch between 5,000 and 6,000 when it goes under the

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Other touching moments include Joel kissing then-wife Christie Brinkley before heading into the studio, and the nugget that Springsteen drove himself to the location in a Pontiac GTO.

The documentary anchors the effort in the activism of Harry Belafonte, who had raised the alarm about famine in Ethiopia, and having him in the studio singing "We Are the World" was poignant.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.