Billy Joel recalls Stevie Wonder teaching Bob Dylan how to sing like Bob Dylan for 'We Are The World'

20 February 2024, 13:53

The Greatest Night in Pop – Netflix ‘We Are The World’ documentary trailer

"Okay, I think I can do that."

As the 40th anniversary of 'We Are The World' nears, we've been looking back at the stunning collaboration.

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Fans got a behind-the-scenes look at how it all went down in the recent Netflix documentary The Greatest Night in Pop, and now one of the singers, Billy Joel, has shared his own amazing stories from the recording.

“Funny things were happening, " Billy told The Howard Stern Show.

"Bob Dylan was shy to sing on his own. So Stevie Wonder comes out and tells Bob how to sing like Bob Dylan. 'We are the world. We are the children'.

Billy Joel Tells Stories About “We Are the World” Recording

And Dylan’s like, 'Okay, I think I can do that'.' Stevie Wonder teaching Bob Dylan to sing like Bob Dylan was a moment."

He added about hanging out with Bruce Springsteen during the session: "When everybody's singing together, sometimes Bruce and I are in the chorus and sometimes we’re not because there was a big pile of deli sandwiches on the other side of the room and we kept going over to get a beer and a sandwich."

Billy also revealed Cyndi Lauper's feedback about the song the gaggle of superstars were recording in Los Angeles.

"I'm standing next to Cyndi Lauper," he said. "Now we're all being filmed while this is going on.

"And she’s leaning over to me, going 'This song sounds like a Pepsi commercial'."

As well as Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen and Cyndi Lauper, 'We Are The World' also featured Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Willie Nelson, Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Smokey Robinson, Kenny Loggins, Huey Lewis and many others.