We Are The World - Release and Reception

Release and Reception

On March 7, 1985, "We Are the World" was released as a single, in both 7" and 12" format. The song was the only one released from the We Are the World album and became a chart success around the world. In the US, it was a number one hit on the R&B singles chart, the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart and the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for a month. The single had initially debuted at number 21 on the Hot 100, the highest entry since Michael Jackson's "Thriller" entered the charts at number 20 the year before. It took four weeks for the song to claim the number one spot—half the time a single would normally have taken to reach its charting peak. On the Hot 100, the song moved from 21 to 5 to 2 and then number 1. "We Are the World" might have reached the top of the Hot 100 chart sooner, if it were not for the success of Phil Collins' "One More Night", which received a significant level of support from both pop and rock listeners. "We Are the World" also entered Billboard's Top Rock Tracks and Hot Country Singles charts, where it peaked at numbers 27 and 76 respectively. The song became the first single since The Beatles' "Let It Be" to enter Billboard's Top 5 within two weeks of release. Outside of the US, the single reached number one in Australia, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. The song peaked at number 2 in Austria.

The single was also a commercial success; the initial shipment of 800,000 "We Are the World" records sold out within three days of release. The record became the fastest-selling American pop single in history. At one Tower Records store on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, 1,000 copies of the song were sold in two days. Store worker Richard Petitpas commented, "A number one single sells about 100 to 125 copies a week. This is absolutely unheard of." By the end of 1985, "We Are the World" had become the best selling single of the year. Five years later it was revealed that the song had become the biggest single of the 1980s. "We Are the World" was eventually cited as the biggest selling single in both US and pop music history. The song became the first ever single to be certified multi-platinum; it received a 4× certification by the Recording Industry Association of America. The estimated global sales of "We Are the World" are said to be 20 million.

Following its release, "We Are the World" received mixed reviews from journalists, music critics and the public. American journalist Greil Marcus felt that the song sounded like a Pepsi jingle. He wrote, "... the constant repetition of 'There's a choice we're making' conflates with Pepsi's trademarked 'The choice of a new generation' in a way that, on the part of Pepsi-contracted song writers Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, is certainly not intentional, and even more certainly beyond the realm of serendipity." Marcus added, "In the realm of contextualization, 'We Are the World' says less about Ethiopia than it does about Pepsi—and the true result will likely be less that certain Ethiopian individuals will live, or anyway live a bit longer than they otherwise would have, than that Pepsi will get the catch phrase of its advertising campaign sung for free by Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, and all the rest." Author Reebee Garofalo agreed, and expressed the opinion that the line "We're saving our own lives" was a "distasteful element of self-indulgence". He asserted that the artists of USA for Africa were proclaiming "their own salvation for singing about an issue they will never experience on behalf of a people most of them will never encounter".

In contrast, Stephen Holden of The New York Times praised the phrase "There's a choice we're making, We're saving our own lives". He commented that the line assumed "an extra emotional dimension when sung by people with superstar mystiques". Holden expressed that the song was "an artistic triumph that transcends its official nature". He noted that unlike Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas", the vocals on "We Are the World" were "artfully interwoven" and emphasized the individuality of each singer. Holden concluded that "We Are the World" was "a simple, eloquent ballad" and a "fully-realized pop statement that would sound outstanding even if it weren't recorded by stars".

In "We Are the World", Bruce gave Cyndi Lauper and Tina Turner a run for their money for worst performance. Springsteen's amazing, up-all-night, three-packs-a-day rendition with Stevie Wonder rivalled Tina Turner's self-conscious moaning and Lauper's putting three syllables in 'change'.
The argument was this: "He's trying so hard, he really feels the lyrics." Yeah, just like any Holiday Inn lounge lizard feels the lyrics to "Feelings".

The song proved popular with both young and old listeners. The public enjoyed hearing a supergroup of musicians singing together on one track, and felt satisfied in buying the record, knowing that the money would go towards a good cause. People reported they bought more than one copy of the single, some buying up to five copies of the record. One mother from Columbia, Missouri purchased two copies of "We Are the World", stating, "The record is excellent whether it's for a cause or not. It's fun trying to identify the different artists. It was a good feeling knowing that I was helping someone in need."

According to music critic and Bruce Springsteen biographer Dave Marsh, "We Are the World" was not widely accepted within the rock music community. The author revealed that the song was "despised" for what it was not: "a rock record, a critique of the political policies that created the famine, a way of finding out how and why famines occur, an all-inclusive representation of the entire worldwide spectrum of post-Presley popular music". Marsh revealed that he felt some of the criticisms were right, while others were silly. He claimed that despite the sentimentality of the song, "We Are the World" was a large scale pop event with serious political overtones.

"We Are the World" was recognized with several awards following its release. At the 1986 Grammy Awards, the song and its accompanying music video won four awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Music Video, Short Form. The music video was awarded two honors at the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards. It collected the awards for Best Group Video and Viewer's Choice. People's Choice Awards recognized "We Are the World" with the Favorite New Song award in 1986. In the same year, the American Music Awards named "We Are the World" "Song of the Year", and honored organizer Harry Belafonte with the Award of Appreciation. Collecting his award, Belafonte thanked Ken Kragen, Quincy Jones, and "the two artists who, without their great gift would not have inspired us in quite the same way as we were inspired, Mr. Lionel Richie and Mr. Michael Jackson". Following the speech, the majority of USA for Africa reunited on stage, closing the ceremony with "We Are the World".