U.S.A. for Africa

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

U.S.A. for Africa was a group of American artists who in 1985 recorded the charity single We Are the World. The occasion was Do They Know It's Christmas? by the British Band Aid from 1984. Harry Belafonte decided to make an American counterpart to raise money for the famine in Ethiopia, which between 1983 and 1985 cost about a million people their lives. Manager Ken Kragen brought in his clients Lionel Richie and Kenny Rogers, and they asked Stevie Wonder. Quincy Jones became producer and called Michael Jackson, who had just finished the Victory Tour with The Jacksons.

Music and breakthrough

Jackson and Richie wrote the song together at the Jackson family home in Encino, California. They wanted a song that was easy to sing, easy to remember and hymn-like. Recording began at Kenny Rogers' Lion Share Recording Studio in Los Angeles. First session musicians such as drummer John Robinson, bassist Louis Johnson and pianist Greg Phillinganes recorded the backing, and then the singers followed. Among them were Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Tina Turner. The line about taking one's own life was changed, because it could be read as a reference to suicide.

Influence

Columbia Records released the song on 7 March 1985. It topped the charts in many countries, won four Grammys and raised more than 80 million dollars for aid in Africa and the United States. In 2010 a new version followed after the earthquake in Haiti.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1985We Are the World