So I watched The Greatest Night in Pop and I liked it for what it was. It was awesome to see all those great singers come together for one night for a good cause.

Even though I was 5 at the time of the songs release, I do remember the impact it had on the world at the time. Damn near everyone in the world was singing that song. It stayed in rotation on radio. I even remember having to sing that song in school for a graduation program or something.

Right after the documentary went off I immediately got on my computer to find out more about that song.

Here are some interesting things I found out about that night:

There Was a Documentary Made About the Song in 1985

Yup! There was already a documentary made about the song. I haven’t watched it yet. It’s called, We Are The World: The Story About the Song and is available to rent on Amazon.

Stevie Wonder Invited Two Famine Survivors To The Recording

Something that was left out of the documentary was the fact that Stevie Wonder invited two Ethiopian famine survivors to the recording. I would have loved to hear about their story.

Dan Ackroyd Sang?

I do remember seeing Dan Ackroyd in the music video for the song, but I never questioned why he was there. I just always assumed he had been invited just like the other celebrities and asked to sing. He sand with the chorus so it wouldn’t have mattered if he couldn’t sing because we’d never actually hear his voice in the sea of voices. Long story short, Ackroyd was asked to join the chorus as he just happened to stop by the night of the recording.

Apparently Michael Throwing Shade At The Other Singers Was A Thing Back Then

Way before this documentary came out, I’d seen videos of Michael’s reaction to the other singers during the recording. Those snippets came from the original documentary. I really don’t believe MJ was throwing shade. He pretty much had that stoic look in just about every scene he was in. Folks just trying to create drama out of nothing.