Huey Lewis has opened up about his one regret from the historic night when he and dozens of other superstars recorded the "We Are the World" charity single.
"It's that I didn't introduce myself to Ray Charles and chat with Ray Charles," the "I Want a New Drug" singer said on Good Morning America on Tuesday (April 16).
The 73-year-old Lewis said that Charles was his "lifelong singing hero," but he was too starstruck to approach the legendary singer, who died at the age of 73 in 2004.
"I was in awe," Lewis recalled. "I just sort of followed him around all night."
The "We Are the World" session is receiving renewed interest lately thanks to the documentary The Greatest Night in Pop currently on Netflix, after it was released in January.
Lewis also revealed that he did enjoy the company of at least one other star that night. "Bruce Springsteen is very funny," he said. "He's a really good joke teller."
Interestingly, neither Lewis nor Springsteen were initially considered for the all-star single in the early planning stages. "Initially, when I called [manager] Ken Kragen and [producer] Quincy [Jones], I thought we would do it with the five or six of the top Black acts-with Lionel [Richie], Stevie Wonder, and Ray Charles, I didn't even know if we could get Michael [Jackson]. For it to have blossomed into this multicultural, multi-racial response was very moving," said Harry Belafonte, who came up with the idea for the charity single, in an interview for The Billboard Book of Number One Albums.
In his interview on GMA, Lewis revealed that he was nervous, but noted one of the other performers definitely was not.
"Stevie Wonder was not nervous - because when you have that much talent, you don't need to be nervous," he said.
The all-star single was recorded in January 1985 following that year's American Music Awards and was released in March. The all-star cast featured on the song written by Richie and Jackson included Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, Kenny Loggins, Steve Perry Cyndi Lauper, Bob Dylan and others.
"Needless to say, it was an incredible evening. It was amazing," Lewis said. "I knew that evening that this was the career event of my life. Forty years later, it still is."
Rogers, who died in 2020 at the age of 81, expressed similar sentiments in an interview for The Billboard Book of Number One Albums. "Recording that song with all of those people was one of the most incredible experiences in my life," said the singer who had his sheet music signed by the other participants at the all-night session.
Lewis, meanwhile, is back in the spotlight as The Heart of Rock and Roll opens on Broadway on April 22. The jukebox music is based on songs from his band, Huey Lewis and the News.
