Get the latest gossip

‘The Greatest Night in Pop’ takes a Terrific Backstage look at ‘We Are the World’

Fascinating Netflix doc revisits the 1985 night when most of music’s biggest stars heeded a certain call and blended their famous voices into a blockbuster charity single.

It’s these little hiccups and anecdotes that make the documentary such a compelling watch, for instance when Paul Simon looked around the room filled with superstars and joked that, if a bomb landed on the studio, John Denver would be back on top. In the early stages of the 95-minute documentary, we’re taken through the songwriting process, with Richie and Jackson hurriedly crafting the tune to have it ready on the night of Jan. 25, when dozens of the world’s biggest stars would be in Los Angeles for the American Music Awards. Looking back all these years later, it’s something of a miracle that, in the days before texts and emails, when you had to communicate by fax and messenger and landline phone calls, so many performers who were used to being the biggest star in the room agreed to get together on relatively short notice and figure out a path to record one of the most impactful singles in music history.

Get the Android app