We Are The World… NOW!

A new project by producer Jeffrey Weber is in the plan, reimagining “We Are The World”.

Renamed “We Are The World Now” will see the 1985 song being re-recorded in Korea, China, Japan, Australia, England, Italy, France, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Spain and one or more African countries. Additional countries may be announced later.

With “We Are the World NOW,” “a percentage of the revenue from the sale of the recordings and associated products will be split between a noted charity in each country devoted to ending world hunger and a third-party charity devoted to the same goals on a global basis,” according to a statement.

Weber says that he has not yet connected with Richie, the Jackson estate or Jones about the project. He wouldn’t need permission, beyond a compulsory license, to cover the song, but adds, “Once there is a broadcaster in place, we would have to strike a deal for publishing rights to the original song with Lionel as well as the Jackson estate if the project were to be shown on any device that has a visual image, such as a DVD, television, computer screen, movie theater, etc.”

The project’s creator and executive producer is Sunny Ogbamichael, a Korean entrepreneur. “Never before in our history are we, as a people, more divided on so many levels,” she said in a statement. “We are divided socially, economically, racially, religiously and politically. In what I hope will be a unifying effort, we are producing reimagined and modernized versions of the song, ‘We Are the World,’ in over a dozen countries, while aligning with indigenous charity partners dedicated to ending world hunger.”

Pre-production is set to begin on July 1, at which time Weber will start to gather musicians and singers from each country. The first recording session is expected to be in Seoul, South Korea in the first quarter of 2024.

Each country’s session will be recorded live, but not on the same day.

Weber says the “We Are the World NOW” live event series will be recorded in over a dozen countries: “We are assembling the finest local arrangers, musicians and vocalists in each country to record contemporary versions of the song in the language of each country and incorporating the indigenous instruments of each country. The project will be recorded live, in world-class studios in each country.”

“I expect that each country’s arranger will have a different approach to what a modern version of the song will be,” says Weber. “I am going to leave the arrangement up to each arranger, but when you add the indigenous instruments to the mix, it promises to be interesting, at least. I do expect rap to be a part of some of the versions. We will be doing a symphonic version of [the arrangement] in China which will be arranged and conducted by Christina Liang.”

Broadcast and distribution partners for “We Are the World NOW” have yet to be finalized.

SOURCE: Billboard