'It took me about two hours to calm my a** back down.'Īs video outtakes from the 'We Are the World' recording session demonstrate, Jarreau did not exactly nail his part in one take. 'I said, 'You're out of your freaking mind,'' Richie said. In a previous interview with Billboard, Richie recalled his response to Jackson after the 'Bad' singer told him the snake just wanted to play.

'I will admit I was screaming like a white woman,' Richie confessed. In the midst of all that, Richie then noticed Jackson's stacks of vinyl albums tumbling over, which was revealed to be caused by a massive white python that emerged from behind the albums, slithering its way toward Richie. This included Jackson multitracking his own background vocals.įor Richie, co-writing the song with Jackson was a memorable experience - although perhaps not for the reasons most people might assume. 'I'm at Michael's house trying to write 'We Are the World' and his dog is barking and his Mynah bird is yelling 'Shut up' ,' Richie recounted during an onstage MusiCares event, as reported by Billboard. Jackson's contribution to 'We Are the World' was a major one, co-writing the song with Lionel Richie, and working in the studio to create the bedrock track to which the vocals were later added.

Who sang we are the world