The Untold Story of the Race to Record “We Are the World” | Amanpour and Company

Almost four decades ago, 46 of America’s biggest music stars gathered in one studio to record the single “We Are the World.” The artists were told to “check their egos at the door,” in the name of helping people affected by famine in Ethiopia and other African countries. The record sold more than 2 million copies, and the remarkable all-night recording session behind it is the focus of a new Netflix documentary, “The Greatest Night in Pop.” Also present that night was Tom Bahler, a vocal arranger who worked on the song. Hari Sreenivasan speaks to him alongside the film’s director, Bao Nguyen.

Originally aired on March 1, 2024

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Major support for Amanpour and Company is provided by The Anderson Family Endowment, Jim Attwood and Leslie Williams, Candace King Weir, the Leila and Mickey Straus Family Charitable Trust, Mark J. Blechner, the Filomen M. D'Agostino Foundation, Seton J. Melvin, Charles Rosenblum, Koo and Patricia Yuen, Barbara Hope Zuckerberg, Jeffrey Katz and Beth Rogers, Bernard and Denise Schwartz, the JPB Foundation, the Sylvia A. and Simon B. Poyta Programming Endowment to Fight Antisemitism and Josh Weston.

Subscribe to the Amanpour and Company. channel here: https://bit.ly/2EMIkTJ

Subscribe to our daily newsletter to find out who's on each night: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/newsletter/

For more from Amanpour and Company, including full episodes, click here: https://to.pbs.org/2NBFpjf

Like Amanpour and Company on Facebook: https://bit.ly/2HNx3EF

Follow Amanpour and Company on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2HLpjTI

Watch Amanpour and Company weekdays on PBS (check local listings).

Amanpour and Company features wide-ranging, in-depth conversations with global thought leaders and cultural influencers on the issues and trends impacting the world each day, from politics, business and technology to arts, science and sports. Christiane Amanpour leads the conversation on global and domestic news from London with contributions by prominent journalists Walter Isaacson, Michel Martin, Alicia Menendez and Hari Sreenivasan from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City.

#amanpourpbs