In 1985, 46 music icons, including Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Diana Ross, and Stevie Wonder, came together for the most star-studded recording session in history. This is the untold story of the legendary global pop song “We Are the World” — which very nearly didn’t happen.

You know the song, but do you know the whole story? When industry leaders and activists like Harry Belafonte first envisioned bringing the biggest names in music together for African famine relief, the dream for music to change the world was never stronger. In a time before email, cellphones, and the internet, “We Are the World” gathered an incredible assortment of artists that even nearly 40 years later seems unreal. With infectious energy and rare footage, director Bao Nguyen and co-songwriter Lionel Richie take you to those days and that special night. The Greatest Night in Pop is a fun document of the 1980s and one of the decade’s most strange, openhearted, and iconic collaborations that changed pop music history forever.—SS