Est. 1998
January 28th Anniversary Press Event
To Be Followed by February 1st Release – $19.99
DVD Features Hours Of Never-Before-Seen Footage
Los Angeles – December 10th 2004: The 20th Anniversary of one of the most historic and important recording sessions of all time featuring 45 of the biggest names in American popular music that produced the extraordinary song, “We Are The World” will be commemorated with a 4-hour, 2 DVD Set entitled “WE ARE THE WORLD: The Story Behind The Song,” hitting stores on February 1st.
“We Are The World” featured such iconic artists as: Harry Belafonte, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Bob Geldof, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Willie Nelson, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, Paul Simon, Bruce Springstein, Tina Turner, and Stevie Wonder and was conducted and produced by Quincy Jones.
Proceeds from the DVD will again enable USA for AFRICA, “We Are The World’s” sponsor, to help ease hunger and fight AIDS in Africa and poverty related issues here in the United States.
“We Are The World” became an international sensation in 1985, the single sold more than 7.5 million copies and won Grammys for “Song of the Year” and “Record of the Year,” but more importantly, focused both media and public attention on the famine that was killing millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa and the endemic problems of hunger in Africa that still persist today.
The DVD Set, produced by the award-winning DVD producer Paul Brownstein and released by Image Entertainment, will feature more than four hours of material from the all-night recording session. The DVD will include an expanded version the original “Making-of Special” on the recording session along with the 10th Anniversary documentary plus more than two hours of bonus footage that will include the individual artists rehearsing and recording their solos, behind-the-scenes camaraderie and banter as well as the long, arduous labor of love that produced one of the great “anthems” of all time.
A number of unique features will allow viewers to access and cross-reference the material in innovative ways and a Karaoke section will allow them to add their own solos to the chorus and instrumentals. Footage of “We Are The World” being performed at the American Music Awards, The Grammys and the historic Live Aid concert are included as well. This DVD will not only be the definitive video history of the recording session, it will enable lovers of the song and the cause to see the historic event in new and revealing detail.
“The recording session on January 28, 1985 was an absolutely unique moment in history,” says Ken Kragen, the L.A.-based talent manager and producer who organized the effort along with Harry Belafonte, Quincy Jones and a host of others. “Not only did it bring together an unparalleled array of music talent on one night for one cause, it was an unprecedented effort that melded artists, media and music in an effort that has raised more than $63 million dollars that has funded more than 450 grants that leveraged resources for projects in 18 African countries and has helped save millions of lives over the past 20 years.”
“I wish I could say that ‘We Are The World’ solved all the problems it highlighted,” says, Ken Kragen. “Nevertheless it did shed incredible light on those problems, galvanized many into action and set an example of what people can accomplish when they come together in pursuit of helping others in need. ‘We Are The World’ was clearly a unique moment in time and one part of its legacy is clearly the fact that momentous things can happen when caring people seize those moments and act.”
Source: usaforafrica.org & MJWN
