A legacy is truly living on! More than 80 stars gathered together last nite (Feb. 1) in LA's Henson studios to remake Michael Jackson's "We Are The World" in support of the Haitian earthquake relief.
You would never guess that artists such as Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Usher, LL Cool J, Robin Thicke, LADY GAGA, Akon, Faith Evans, Wyclef, Snoop Dogg, Keri Hilson, Jamie Foxx, Melanie Fiona, Jennifer Hudson, Trey Songz. As well as, a slew of our favorite mainstream artists: Vince Vaughn, Barbra Streisand, Jordin Sparks, Good Charlotte's Madden brothers, Tony Bennett, Josh Groban, Jeff Bridges, Justin Bieber, Tyrese, Katharine McPhee, Sean Garrett, Will.I.Am, Carlos Santana, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton, Jason Mraz, Miley Cyrus, Busta Rhymes, Nicole Scherzinger, Nicole Richie, Nick Jonas, Julianne Hough, Raphael Saadiq, Zac Brown, India.Arie, "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson, Musiq Soulchild, Heart's Ann and Nancy Wilson, Fonzworth Bentley, Kid Cudi, Iyaz, Bizzy Bone, Celine Dion, Nipsey Hussle, the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson and Al Jardine, Rob Thomas, Mya and Gladys Knight. Oh, T-Pain had a auto-tune free solo too!
I'm just glad they didn't ban Kanye from this epic event, too! I was looking at the pics and he changed clothes and got "into character" during the recording. The video is being shot in 3-D, so I hope you saved your non-working Target glasses, it's debuting on Friday February 12th!!
Kanye, wearing a red jacket with sparkling gold crisscross accents, stood center in the front row, between Wyclef and Hudson.
Among the soloists whose sessions were screened for journalists at press time were Bieber, Dion and Groban. Weezy also came out and humbly noted that he recorded the solo originally sung by Bob Dylan.
The inspirational lyrics were laid down over a track that had a more modern Southern hip-hop bounce to it. The recording session took place almost 25 years to the day since the original song for African famine relief was recorded. [MTV]
Check out this interview from Lil Wayne by MTV
Once again, Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones, and Wyclef are making history in music! This is a great intro to Black History Month and the BEST tribute to Michael Jackson thus far! I remember when I was 7 years old and the original "We Are The World" dropped on March 7,1985. My family bought the vinyl and we played the HELL out of that record. Then my Joe Jackson azz daddy had me singing on the tracks in his studio. You couldn't TELL me that I wasn't singin Cindy Lauper's verse better than her. *Cindy Lauper voice* WELLLL….WELLL…WELLLLLLLLLLLL……..lol…..WELL what do you think?
"We Are the World", which was eventually named the biggest selling single of all time. As of 2009, it has sold more than 20 million units and raised over $63 million for humanitarian aid in Africa and the US. This remake is DEFINITELY going to be another chart topper in hopes of raising more than $63 million for Haiti.
Photos: Getty
Tags: haiti earthquake relief, henson studios, kanye, LIL WAYNE, lionel richie, Michael Jackson, mtv, quincy jones, we are the world remake, wyclef
