Netflix To Be Home To 'We Are The World' Documentary

The collaborative charity single, We Are The World, released by numerous artists as USA For Africa in May 1985, is the subject of a new Netflix documentary, The Greatest Night In Pop, Deadline reports.

The new feature-length film will have its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, 19 January, before receiving its Netflix debut on Monday, 29 January.

Based on the single that was released to benefit African famine relief, The Greatest Night In Pop follows the enormous undertaking of gathering so many music icons to sing the song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie (the original idea stemmed from Harry Belafonte, the mastermind behind Band-Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas?).

The documentary is set to feature interviews with artists involved in the recording, including Richie, Bruce Springsteen, Smokey Robinson, Cyndi Lauper, Kenny Loggins, Dionne Warwick, and Huey Lewis. Other personnel will also appear in the film.

The Greatest Night In Pop was directed by Bao Nguyen, best known for his ESPN documentary Be Water about pop culture icon Bruce Lee.

In a statement, Nguyen wrote that he’s “overjoyed” to showcase the “remarkable and unlikely genesis” of We Are The World.

The synopsis for the film reads (via Brooklyn Vegan):

On January 25, 1985, dozens of the biggest names in music convened at a studio in Los Angeles, checked their egos at the door and recorded a song to benefit African famine relief that would alter global pop culture history. The Greatest Night in Pop chronicles the massive undertaking to assemble the world’s most impressive supergroup in a world before cell phones and email.

That group of artists — led by the song’s co-writers and two of the most significant musicians of the 20th century — Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie — came from different worlds but united to record We Are The World. Featuring never-before-seen footage, the film details the early planning stages, including the writing sessions with Richie and Jackson, and goes inside the famed Henson Studios where We Are The World was recorded.

Many of the artists who were there that legendary evening — Richie, Bruce Springsteen, Smokey Robinson, Cyndi Lauper, Kenny Loggins, Dionne Warwick, and Huey Lewis — reminisce alongside musicians, engineers, and production crew about one of the most storied nights in music history. The Greatest Night in Pop was directed by Bao Nguyen and produced by Julia Nottingham, the team behind the acclaimed Bruce Lee documentary (Be Water).

Check out the official trailer below.