Blank Archives/Getty ImagesThirty-five years ago today — April 13, 1985 — the star-studded charity single “We Are the World” topped the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for a month. Released in March of ’85, it became the fastest-selling U.S. pop single in history, raising over $147 million for famine relief in Africa and the U.S.
The jaw-dropping lineup who sang on the track included Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Daryl Hall, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Paul Simon, Cyndi Lauper, Steve Perry, Willie Nelson and Huey Lewis.
Looking back on that night, Lewis tells ABC Audio, “It was pretty amazing, I mean, you certainly don’t meet those people, let alone work with them…in a lifetime, or a career, ever. So it was a magic night.”
Most magical for Huey was meeting his all-time idol, Dylan — it happened after Willie Nelson and Huey starting talking about what they liked to do on the road.
“I was afraid to introduce myself to Dylan because I’m so in awe of him. But we took a break at some point and Willie Nelson came to me and said, ‘I hear you’re playing golf out there. Me too. That’s what I do,'” recalls Lewis.
“I said, ‘Yeah, it’s great,'” he continues. “‘We put the clubs in the bottom of the bus and it’s a way to get out of the hotel and we just whack it around and it’s kind of fun,’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s exactly the same with us.'”
Then, Lewis says, Dylan noticed what he and Nelson were chatting about.
“He says, ‘Are you guys talking about golf?'” Huey remembers. “Willie says ‘Yeah.’ Dylan says, ‘Man, that’s outrageous!'”
He adds, laughing, “I said, ‘No, Bob. Nashville Skyline was outrageous. This is just golf.'”
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