Simperers like Adam Levine (from Maroon 5) and Enrique Iglesias appear rather than Stevie Wonder. Josh Groban for Kenny Rogers actually, that’s a toss-up.

Justin Bieber in place of Lionel Richie on the opening verse. Streisand’s warmth with the teenypop nasality of Miley Cyrus.Īnd the men well, the lineup unfortunately speaks for itself. They’re not always deployed as wisely, though, especially when the new version follows Ms. The women can nearly hold their own against 1985: Jennifer Hudson, Pink, Barbra Streisand, Mary J Blige, Celine Dion, Toni Braxton, Jennifer Nettles (from Sugarland) and Nicole Scherzinger (from Pussycat Dolls) can rival the lungpower of Dionne Warwick, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Kim Carnes and Cyndi Lauper from 1985. As in 1985 the song features current chart-toppers along with a few elders, like Tony Bennett and (on guitar) Carlos Santana. Still, “We Are the World 25 for Haiti” rises or falls on its talent pool. Vocalists remaking “We Are the World” include Wyclef Jean, foreground Barbra Streisand LL Cool J, back left and Jeff Bridges, back right. It’s a premeditated moment but a passionate one. His spot leaps out of the video clip: singing in English and Creole, he ululates in a way that reaches back to Afro-Haitian roots. 12, the song acquired a new and immediate cause and a central performer: Wyclef Jean, the Haitian-American songwriter, singer and rapper from the Fugees and one of the remake’s producers.

A gospelly lift in the chorus saves the lyrics from their potential narcissism “We’re saving our own lives” to insist that all the stars are indeed singing about worldwide community.Ī 25th anniversary remake had already been in the works, timed to the availability of stars in Los Angeles for the Grammy Awards at the end of January. The song itself, for all its Hollywood gloss, has turned out to be durable. They took on new-generation collaborators: Lady Gaga’s producer, RedOne, and Will.i.am, who joins the songwriting credits by adding rhymes for rappers. “We Are the World” was written by Michael Jackson, whose portions from the original song and video clip are reused, and by Lionel Richie, who organized the 2010 version along with the original producer, Quincy Jones. 1 single on iTunes and had been viewed on YouTube four million times. It’s one measure of the slippage between the original and the remake, which can be seen at /user/wearetheworld or downloaded from iTunes. Similarities aside scratchy voice, gift for free association Lil Wayne, you’re no Bob Dylan. Now Lil Wayne shows up in the same spot, using Auto-Tune on his vocal, in “We Are the World 25 for Haiti,” the remake to aid earthquake victims that had its video premiere on Friday night during the Olympics. When “We Are the World” was recorded in 1985, to benefit famine relief in Africa, Bob Dylan sang some pivotal lines with his usual wayward phrasing.

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