‘Leave Your Ego at the Door’: Netflix Documentary Takes a Look at the Greatest Song Recording of All Time

“Check your ego at the door“or in french”Leave your ego at the doorThis is the message left by producer Quincy Jones at the entrance to A&M Studios on the evening of January 28, 1985. That night, the world’s biggest superstars gathered in one place to record. We are the world.

The biggest superstars have teamed up

Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan… In total, 21 artists and 23 teams shared the microphones to record this title, which aims to raise money to end hunger. Ethiopia.

This extraordinary encounter was surely immortalized in many archival images and is now the subject of a documentary aptly titled The Greatest Night in Pop.

Directed by Bao Nguyen, the film tells the whole story of this initiative, which was started by actor Harry Belafonte, who is concerned about the situation in Africa.

Thanks to interventions by Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen and even Cyndi Lauper, the entire production is explained, from its writing – with Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie – to the recording of the epic – and somewhat dirty, it must be said – evening. American Music Awards.

The documentary has the peculiarity of immersing the audience behind the scenes of this iconic moment, as if they were there. The Greatest Night in Pop is also an opportunity to hear, for the first time, quite rare stories, such as those told by Lionel Richie, who was amazed by Michael Jackson’s quirky personality during the writing sessions.

Isn’t it Madonna and Prince?

We also found out why one of today’s biggest stars Madonna wasn’t invited to the gathering and why Prince wasn’t on the record.

When the title was released on March 7, 1985, it was met with promising success. The event is so important that We are the world More than 20 million copies were sold.

Almost $63 million was raised to fight hunger in Africa. Pop’s Greatest Night reminds us how artists can sometimes change the world.

The Greatest Night in Pop is available on Netflix.