Most of us remember U.S.A. for Africa’s 1985 “We Are the World” performance, spearheaded by the initiative’s big-name musicians including Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan – but what many of us are unaware of is “We Are the World”‘s “untold story,” what actually went down behind-the-scenes at Henson Studios to pull the track together. Netflix‘s The Greatest Night in Pop documentary compiles never-before-seen archival footage from the 46 musicians behind the song, as well as present-day interviews to provide a firsthand look at the making of the influential performance.
Directed by Bao Nguyen, the doc includes interviews from Richie and Springsteen along with Smokey Robinson, Cyndi Lauper, Kenny Loggins, Dionne Warwick and Huey Lewis. Some of the producers and crewmembers who worked on the 1985 production offer their comments as well.
“The greatest artists of a generation came together to save some lives, but we only had one night to get this right,” Richie opens the trailer, before recounting writing the song alongside Jackson. “I received this call from Harry Belafonte, and he wanted to do some kind of song for famine relief in Africa – basically what he said was, ‘I need you.’”
Stream the trailer in full above, and look out for other appearances from Billy Joel, Willie Nelson, Bette Midler and Paul Simon.
The Greatest Night in Pop will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19. The film will arrive on Netflix on January 29.
