Lionel Richie Wants To Remake We Are The World... Again
He's mulling over a new version to help raise money to fight COVID-19.
Lionel Richie is considering a new version of 'We Are the World' to raise money to fight COVID-19.
The 70-year-old singer initially didn't want to mark the 35th anniversary of the track —which featured the likes of the late Michael Jackson and Kenny Rogers, Cyndi Lauper, Diana Ross and other singing superstars and raise US$63 million (S$92 mil) to fight famine in Africa — but thinks the message of the track is "so clear" in the current climate because of the global pandemic.
The song was re-recorded in 2010 to benefit Haiti, which was hit by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake.
Although the American Idol judge has attempted to write new lyrics, he finds himself drawn to the original song.
He said: "But every time I try and write another message, I write those same words."
Richie wrote the song with Michael Jackson and recalled how they came up with the powerful line.
And the 'All Night Long' singer thinks its a particularly important message in such a divisive time.
He said: "We were back to there are 'those people' and 'those people.' If you find yourself saying 'those people' then you are not thinking properly.
"What happened in China, in Europe, it came here. So if we don't save our brothers there, it's going to come home. It's all of us. All of us are in this together."
At present, Richie is trying to stay at home with his family.
He said: "We are all hunkered down. Family is the key to this. It is the soother."— BANG
Shopping
