Lionel Richie, ex-Commodore and easy-listening adult radio megastar, has decided to do a re-make of the 80’s feel-good anthem, “We Are the World”, but with a new twist: Proceeds from this re-make are going to help a population of the world unable to help themselves, and…wait. Hm. No, there’s really nothing new about this re-make other than it it now going to Haiti and not Africa, and instead of the 40 artists originally used (USA for Africa), this new version has a whopping 70 concerned folks, united under the name of “Artists for Haiti”.
The new song, with accompanying video. is called “We Are the World- 25 for Haiti”. It was premiered at the Opening Ceremony for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Notable additions include will.i.am, the front man for the Black Eyed Peas, and his new ending bars to the song, as interpreted rap-style by LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Lil’ Wayne, Swizz Beatz, and others. They encourage the Haitian people to stay hopeful. Some original lines from the first We Are the World song have been omitted, specifically the Willie Nelson sung, “As God has shown us, by turning stones to bread”. I guess God didn’t make it to the original Africa relief, so He was fired in the new version for Haiti.
