On This Day in 1985, Waylon Jennings Walked Out of the “We Are the World” Recording Session

On this day (January 28) in 1985, some of the biggest names in music formed the short-lived supergroup called USA for Africa to record “We Are the World” to raise money to combat the famine in Ethiopia. The recording session included the likes of Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, Tina Turner, Kenny Rogers, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and more. Waylon Jennings was also there until a last-minute addition to the song prompted him to walk out of the session.

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It was late when the troupe of A-listers gathered at A&M Studios in Los Angeles, California. Many attended the 1985 American Music Awards before coming to the studio. Additionally, wrangling that many musicians into one session wasn’t an easy feat. So, while “We Are the World” was a charity single meant to bring everyone together for a good cause, tensions in the studio were high.

[RELATED: “The Day the Music Died”: How Waylon Jennings Nearly Ended Up in Don McLean’s “American Pie”]

As the hour grew later, Stevie Wonder decided that the group should sing a verse in Swahili. This prompted Jennings to say, “Well, ain’t no good ol’ boy ever sung in Swahili. I think I’m outta here,” before exiting the studio and calling it a night. However, Jennings didn’t just bail on the session because Wonder wanted to add a verse in a language he didn’t speak and he wasn’t the only one who disagreed with the decision.

Why Waylon Jennings Walked Out of the “We Are the World” Session

Waylon Jennings may have been the only one to walk out of the studio but he wasn’t the only one who disagreed with Stevie Wonder’s idea. “It’s three o’clock in the damn morning. I can’t even sing in English anymore,” Ray Charles exclaimed when Wonder floated the idea. Furthermore, Lionel Richie who co-penned “We Are the World” with Michael Jackson invited two Ethiopian women to accompany him to the studio and witness the recording. They weighed in on the debate stating that they didn’t speak Swahili. In fact, most Ethiopian people don’t speak the language. It has only begun to gain popularity in parts of the country as a lingua franca in recent years.

There is a debate on whether or not Jennings returned to the “We Are the World” session. He doesn’t sing a solo part in the single nor does he appear in the music video. However, he is still credited on the song.

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