Haiti and the Stars

In 1985, many famous singers and stars came together to record the song “We Are The World.” The song, co-written by Lionel Richie and the late Michael Jackson and produced by Quincy Jones raised more than $30 million for African humanitarian programs.

This past monday, while many of today’s music superstars were in Hollywood for Sunday’s Grammy Awards, close to 100 stars provided their vocal talents to rerecord the hit song “We Are The World” in an effort to raise millions of dollars for Haiti.

The song’s title was changed to “We Are The World-25 for Haiti.” The song was remade so that it has a faster pace and includes a bit of rap. There were 3-D cameras present in the studio filming a video that was directed by Paul Haggis, who has won Oscar awards for “Crash” and “Million Dollar Baby.” In addition, two people in green body suits stood next to Barbara Streisand and the Jonas Brothers while they were recording. These two people were placeholders and will allow people at home to use their computers to insert themselves into the video!

One similarity between Monday’s recording of the song and the 1985 version of the song was that they were recorded in Studio A, located at the Jim Henson Studios in Los Angeles. Part of the reason why this studio became so famous was because of the sign that hung over the door, which read “Check Your Egos at the Door.”

Egos were definitely checked at the door with regards to Monday’s recording. The superstars had no idea who else was going to lend their vocals to this song until they entered the studio. Many of them took pictures with one another and exchanged phone numbers–perhaps for future music-making? Some of the stars included Lil Wayne, Mya, Celine Dion, Carlos Santana, and Nicole Richie.

The song will premiere for the first time during the opening ceremony of the 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Those who want to hear the song and see the video for the first time can tune into the NBC network to witness this historical, remarkable, and generous event.