Lionel Richie's Inspirational "We Are The World" Remake Performance With All-Star Idol Cast

Jun 12, 2020

The classic song We Are the World made its triumphant television comeback on last Sunday's American Idol with a performance from the season's contestants and established music legends. That included the show's host Lionel Richie who penned the song 35 years ago.

The season finale also gave us a new winner, Just Sam, during the show's first-ever homebound finale. According to Billboard, Sam was announced as the winner in her Los Angeles apartment where she had been sheltering in place due to Coronavirus restrictions. Sam was one of the many voices on the 2020 version of We Are the World.

The video featured season 18's contestants singing from home while their faces were overlaid against empty streets and other scenes of landscapes without anybody in them. It wasn't just present contestants who were featured on the soaring song, but past favorites like Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Katharine McPhee, Kellie Pickler, Jordin Sparks, Lauren Alaina, Phillip Phillips, Laine Hardy, and Alejandro Aranda sang along with hosts Luke Bryan and Katy Perry.

Lionel Richie had originally written We Are the World in 1985 along with Michael Jackson according to TODAY, to raise money to fight famine. 

What do you think of the newest version of We Are the World? Do you prefer the original version or the newest one better? Let us know and pass this on to Idol fans you know.