Plans are afoot for a “modern reimagining” of the 1985 classic “We Are the World” — dubbed “We Are the World NOW” — as a multi-country, live recording and televised music event. In the words of the project’s producer, Jeffrey Weber: “We are taking “We Are the World NOW” to the world.”
Separate recordings of the song will be produced in Korea, China, Japan, Australia, England, Italy, France, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Spain and one or more African countries. Additional countries may be announced later.
The original 1985 recording of the humanitarian anthem “We Are the World,” by USA for Africa, was designed to alleviate starvation on the African continent. With “We Are the World NOW,” “a percentage of the revenue from the sale of the recordings and associated products will be split between a noted charity in each country devoted to ending world hunger and a third-party charity devoted to the same goals on a global basis,” according to a statement.
“We Are the World” — co-written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones — was a global smash in 1985. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and went on to win Grammys for record and song of the year. “We Are the World 25″ — a cover version by another all-star grouping, Artists for Haiti — reached No. 2 on the Hot 100 in 2010, though it didn’t have anywhere near the same cultural impact as its predecessor. That one was produced by Jones, Richie, RedOne, Mervyn Warren, Patti Austin, Humberto Gatica, Wyclef Jean and Rickey Minor.
Weber says that he has not yet connected with Richie, the Jackson estate or Jones about the project. He wouldn’t need permission, beyond a compulsory license, to cover the song, but adds, “Once there is a broadcaster in place, we would have to strike a deal for publishing rights to the original song with Lionel as well as the Jackson estate if the project were to be shown on any device that has a visual image, such as a DVD, television, computer screen, movie theater, etc.”
The project’s creator and executive producer is Sunny Ogbamichael, a Korean entrepreneur. “Never before in our history are we, as a people, more divided on so many levels,” she said in a statement. “We are divided socially, economically, racially, religiously and politically. In what I hope will be a unifying effort, we are producing reimagined and modernized versions of the song, ‘We Are the World,’ in over a dozen countries, while aligning with indigenous charity partners dedicated to ending world hunger.”
Pre-production is set to begin on July 1, at which time Weber will start to gather musicians and singers from each country. The first recording session is expected to be in Seoul, South Korea in the first quarter of 2024.
Each country’s session will be recorded live, but not on the same day.
Weber says the “We Are the World NOW” live event series will be recorded in over a dozen countries: “We are assembling the finest local arrangers, musicians and vocalists in each country to record contemporary versions of the song in the language of each country and incorporating the indigenous instruments of each country. The project will be recorded live, in world-class studios in each country.”
To assist the various arrangers in each country, Weber will initially record a modern take on the original song that can be augmented by the arrangers in each country or used as an example for each country’s selected arranger to create their own arrangement. Weber’s recording will feature a band that Weber has assembled, including Gregg Bissonette (Ringo Starr), Matt Bissonette (Elton John), Tariqh Akoni (Josh Groban), Dapo Torimiro (John Legend) and Troy Laureta (Ariana Grande). The song will also feature rappers, including Prodigal Sunn (Wu-Tang Clan, Sunz of Man) and Anacron.
“I expect that each country’s arranger will have a different approach to what a modern version of the song will be,” says Weber. “I am going to leave the arrangement up to each arranger, but when you add the indigenous instruments to the mix, it promises to be interesting, at least. I do expect rap to be a part of some of the versions. We will be doing a symphonic version of [the arrangement] in China which will be arranged and conducted by Christina Liang.”
Weber has worked as a concert, event and music festival producer and has also produced hundreds of albums. He teamed with Morgan Ames to produce the album Diane Schuur and the Count Basie Orchestra, which was a double Grammy winner in 1988 for best jazz vocal performance, female (for Diane Schuur) and best instrumental arrangement accompanying vocals (for arranger Frank Foster).
Grammy and Emmy-winning engineer, Clark Germain, will record and mix the entire project. Germain won a Grammy in 2004 for best jazz instrumental album, individual or group for his work on Wayne Shorter’s Alegría. He won an Emmy in 2017 as a scoring mixer on Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle, which was awarded outstanding sound mixing for a comedy or drama series (half-hour) and animation.
Broadcast and distribution partners for “We Are the World NOW” have yet to be finalized.
