1984年，英國歌手菲爾柯林斯（Phil Collins）看到新聞中非洲依索匹亞等地區的人民，長期處於飢荒與營養不良而死亡，遂在聖誕節之前提出構想，由鮑伯蓋朵夫（Bob Geldof）擔任召集人，由數十位當紅藝人以「Band Aid」為名共同灌錄單曲義賣，將義賣所得援助非洲饑民，單曲「他們知道現在是聖誕節嗎？」（Do they know it's Christmas ?）於焉誕生。這張單曲推出後，立即在全世界引起迴響，光是英美兩地就賣出約三百廿萬張。

英國歌壇的此項義舉，美國歌唱界自然不落人後，由黑人歌手哈利貝拉方提（Harry Belafonte）提出建議，之後獲得眾大牌歌手的鼎力支持，由昆西瓊斯（Quincy Jones）擔任製作人，在1985年2月28日，45位當紅歌星雲集洛杉磯的錄音室，灌錄了「四海一家」（We are the world）這首義賣單曲。



「四海一家」這首歌是由萊納李奇和麥可傑克森合寫，兩人費了四天的時間寫曲，萊納先完成一部分，麥可看到後靈感大發，一夜之間就把全曲寫好。之後他們又花了兩個半小時作詞，為了普遍推廣此曲，歌詞也力求簡單易學。單曲完成後推出問世，受到的歡迎難以想像，短短數週便賣出八百萬張單曲，更勝英國藝人的「他們知道現在是聖誕節嗎？」。

Year Title
1985 We Are the World - (#1)











Lyrics :
There comes a time, when we hear a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all

We can't go on pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make change
We are all a part of God's great big family
And the truth you know
Love is all we need

chorus:
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day, just you and me

Send them your heart so they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free.
As God has shown us by turning stones to bread
And so we all must lend a helping hand

When you're down and out, there seems no hope at all
But if you believe there's no way we can fall
Let us realize that a change can only come
When we stand together as one