With sales in excess of 20 million physical copies, it is the eighth-best-selling single of all time, meant to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia.

in December 1984, musician and activist Harry Belafonte decided to create an American benefit single for African famine relief.

The event brought together some of the era's best-known recording artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, and Tina Turner.

"We Are the World" was promoted with a music video, a VHS, a special edition magazine, a simulcast, and several books, posters, and shirts.

[3] Belafonte contacted the entertainment manager and fundraiser Ken Kragen, who enlisted his clients Lionel Richie and Kenny Rogers.

Jackson's older sister La Toya recounted the process: "I'd go into the room while they were writing and it would be very quiet, which is odd, since Michael's usually very cheery when he works.

Jones hired session musicians to lay down the backing tracks: John "JR" Robinson on drums, Louis Johnson on bass, and pianist Greg Phillinganes.

[10] After this, a vocal guide of "We Are the World" was recorded by Richie and Jackson, mixed with the instrumental tracks, and duplicated on tape for each of the invited performers.

[12] Jones was concerned about assigning performers to sing solos, saying that so much talent on hand made the task like "putting a watermelon in a Coke bottle".

[12] He was joined by the remaining USA for Africa artists, who included Ray Charles, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen and Tina Turner, and Jackson's siblings Jackie, La Toya, Marlon, Randy and Tito.

"[23] Wonder greeted the musicians as they entered, and said that if the recording was not completed in one take, he and Ray Charles, two blind men, would drive everybody home.

[24] I think what's happening in Africa is a crime of historic proportions ... You walk into one of the corrugated iron huts and you see meningitis and malaria and typhoid buzzing around in the air.

Several hours passed before Wonder announced that he would like to substitute a line in Swahili for the "sha-lum sha-lin-gay" sound,[25][26] causing Waylon Jennings to leave.

[28][27] The final version was completed at 8 a.m.[27][29] "We Are the World" is sung from a first-person viewpoint, allowing the audience to "internalize" the message by singing the word we together.

"We Are the World" might have reached the top of the Hot 100 chart sooner, were it not for the success of Phil Collins' "One More Night", which received support from both pop and rock listeners.

[13] He noted that unlike Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas", the vocals on "We Are the World" were "artfully interwoven" and emphasized the individuality of each singer.

[13] Holden concluded that "We Are the World" was "a simple, eloquent ballad" and a "fully-realized pop statement that would sound outstanding even if it weren't recorded by stars".

Seven members of USA for Africa were pictured on the cover: Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner and Willie Nelson.

Upon spinning the song on their local stations, Georgia radio disc jockeys Bob Wolf and Don Briscar came up with the idea for a worldwide simulcast.

On the morning of April 5, 1985 (Good Friday of that year) at 3:50 pm GMT, over 8,000 radio stations simultaneously broadcast the song around the world.

The other board members of USA for Africa outvoted him, and it was instead decided that a new song would be created and released for the event, titled "Hands Across America".

[80] Michael Jackson would have joined the artists, but was "working around the clock in the studio on a project that he's made a major commitment to", according to his press agent, Norman Winter.

"[84] The celebration included a performance of "We Are the World", which involved Clinton, his daughter Chelsea, and his wife Hillary singing the song along with USA for Africa's Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

[82] The New York Times' Edward Rothstein commented on the event, stating, "The most enduring image may be of Mr. Clinton singing along in 'We Are the World', the first President to aspire, however futilely, to hipness.

Jackson planned to use the song for his This Is It comeback concerts at the O2 Arena in London from 2009 to 2010, but the shows were cancelled due to his sudden death.

Lavie's 2010 YouTube version, a cover of the 1985 original, excludes the rap segment and minimizes the Auto-tune that characterizes the 2010 celebrity remake.

[52] According to The New York Times' Stephen Holden, since the release of "We Are the World", it has been noted that movement has been made within popular music to create songs that address humanitarian concerns.

[102] Journalist Robert Palmer noted that such songs and events had the ability to reach people around the world, send them a message, and then get results.

[103] Other notable examples include the 1989 cover of the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water" by a supergroup of hard rock, prog rock, and heavy metal musicians collaborating as Rock Aid Armenia to raise money for victims of the devastating 1988 Armenian earthquake,[104] the 1986 all-star OPM single "Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo", which talked about the optimism the Filipinos needed after the People Power Revolution,[105][106] the 1997 Star Records all-star recording "Sa Araw ng Pasko", the 2003 all-star OPM recording "Biyahe Tayo" which promoted Philippine tourism[107] and its subsequent 2011 remake "Pilipinas, Tara Na!

[109][110] Several GMA Network personalities also recorded another inspirational ballad, "Bangon Kaibigan" in 2013 to provide hope to the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda).