The Greatest Night in Pop
2024
****
Director: Bao Nguyen
Cast:
This entertaining documentary chronicles the creation of We Are the World, the best-selling charity single for African famine relief. Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson wrote the song and on January 28, 1985, some of the biggest pop stars in America came together to record the vocals. The cameras were on throughout the recording session, and there are present day interviews with some of the artists and technicians involved. Bao Nguyen's film is at it best when it illustrates the massive logistical and psychological undertaking required to get more than 40 top artists to abandon their egos and spend a night together in the studio. At its worst, it features millionaires patting themselves on the back and not giving enough credit to Bob Geldof, who had already done the same in the UK with Do They Know It's Christmas?
