We Are the World + 1
by NarniaIsAwesome | created - 11 Feb 2020 | updated - 09 Mar 2020 | PublicIn 1985, a large group of musical performers gathered together to produce "We Are the World," an effort to battle famine in Africa. 46 vocalists were involved, and it was epic. But there were still many popular and talented artists of the time missing.
If you could add just one more artist to the ensemble, who would you choose? There's a choice you're makin'...
Discuss here, just you and me.
1. Madonna
Soundtrack | A League of Their Own
The remarkable, hyper-ambitious Material Girl who never stops re-inventing herself, Madonna has sold over three hundred million records and CDs to adoring fans worldwide. Her film career, however, is another story. Her performances have consistently drawn scathing or laughable reviews from film ...
2. Prince
Soundtrack | Under the Cherry Moon
Prince Rogers Nelson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Mattie Shaw, a jazz singer and social worker, and John L. Nelson, a lyricist and pianist. His father's stage name was "Prince Rogers". His parents were both from African-American families from Louisiana. They separated during his youth, ...
3. Whitney Houston
Soundtrack | The Bodyguard
Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born into a musical family on 9 August 1963, in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of gospel star Cissy Houston (née Emily Lee Drinkard) and John Russell Houston, Jr., and cousin of singing star Dionne Warwick.
She began singing in the choir at her church, The New Hope ...
4. Joe Elliott
Soundtrack | Last Action Hero
Joe Elliott was born on August 1, 1959 in Sheffield, England, UK. He is an actor and composer, known for Last Action Hero (1993), Encino Man (1992) and Rock of Ages (2012). He has been married to Kristine E. Wunschel since September 1, 2004. They have two children. He was previously married to ...
Lead singer of Def Leppard
5. Klaus Meine
Soundtrack | Hellboy
Klaus Meine was born on May 25, 1948 in Hannover, Germany. He is an actor and composer, known for Hellboy (2019), On Deadly Ground (1994) and Knight and Day (2010). He has been married to Gabi Meine since March 24, 1976.
Lead singer of Scorpions
6. Pat Benatar
Soundtrack | Deadpool 2
Pat Benatar was born Patricia Andrzejewski in Brooklyn and raised in suburban Lindenhurst, Long Island. Her mother Millie had sacrificed her own career as an opera singer to bring up Pat and son Andrew. Years later, it was Pat who sang classically, honing the powers of her 4.5-octave voice as a ...
7. Corey Hart
Soundtrack | Beverly Hills Cop II
Corey Hart was born on May 31, 1962 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is an actor and composer, known for Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), 9½ Weeks (1986) and Future Man (2017). He has been married to Julie Masse since June 1, 2000. They have four children. He was previously married to Erika ...
8. David Bowie
Soundtrack | Labyrinth
David Bowie was one of the most influential and prolific writers and performers of popular music, but he was much more than that; he was also an accomplished actor, a mime and an intellectual, as well as an art lover whose appreciation and knowledge of it had led to him amassing one of the biggest ...
9. Annie Lennox
Soundtrack | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Annie Lennox was born on December 25, 1954 in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK. She is a music artist and actress, known for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), Scrooged (1988) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). She has been married to Mitch Besser since September 15, 2012. ...
10. George Michael
Soundtrack | Beverly Hills Cop II
George Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in Finchley, north London, in the United Kingdom, to Lesley Angold (Harrison), a dancer, and Kyriacos Panayiotou, a restaurateur. His father was a Greek Cypriot, and his mother was of English background. He first discovered fame as a musician ...
11. 'Weird Al' Yankovic
Soundtrack | UHF
Few would have guessed that "Weird Al" Yankovic - who as a shy, accordion-playing teenager got his start sending in homemade tapes to the Dr. Demento Radio Show - would go on to become a pop culture icon and the biggest-selling comedy recording artist of all time, with classic song and music video ...
Because whynot?
12. Dolly Parton
Soundtrack | The Porter Wagoner Show
Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on January 19, 1946 in Pittman Center, Tennessee and raised in Sevierville, Tennessee to Avie Lee Parton, a housewife & Robert Lee Parton, a tobacco farmer. At 12, she was appearing on Knoxville TV and at 13, she was already recording on a small label and appearing at ...
13. David Lee Roth
Actor | David Lee Roth: Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody
David Lee Roth was born in Bloomington Indiana in 1954. A few years later, his father Nathan, a doctor, moved the family to sunny California. The move proved to be a good one because while attending Pasadena Community College, David teamed up with the Van Halen brothers and Michael Anthony to form ...
14. Joan Jett
Soundtrack | Light of Day
Joan Jett rose to fame in the 1970s all-girl rock band The Runaways. Her cover of "I Love Rock and Roll" was a number one hit in 1982; "Crimson and Clover" was another hit for her. Jett has appeared as Columbia in the Broadway production of "The Rocky Horror Show".
15. Stevie Nicks
Soundtrack | Sweet November
Stevie Nicks was born in Phoenix, Arizona. From an early age, she showed a love and aptitude for music, singing country and western duets with her grandfather when she was 4 years old. After moving to San Francisco, she began songwriting and performing at Menlo-Atherton High School, where she met ...
16. Gloria Estefan
Soundtrack | Music of the Heart
Gloria Estefan was born on September 1, 1957 in Havana, Cuba. She is a music artist and actress, known for Music of the Heart (1999), Poseidon (2006) and The Specialist (1994). She has been married to Emilio Estefan Jr. since September 2, 1978. They have two children.
17. Olivia Newton-John
Soundtrack | Grease
Olivia Newton-John was an English singer and actress who was born on September 26, 1948, in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK. In 1954, her family relocated to Australia when her father was offered a job as the dean of a Presbyterian college in Melbourne. After winning a singing talent contest...
18. Kevin Cronin
Soundtrack | Rock of Ages
Kevin Cronin was born on October 6, 1951 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for Rock of Ages (2012), Monster (2003) and The Cabin in the Woods (2011). He has been married to Lisa Marie Wells since April 25, 1992. They have four children.
Lead singer of REO Speedwagon
19. Alice Cooper
Soundtrack | Wayne's World
Alice Cooper was born Vincent Damon Furnier, in Detroit, Michigan, the son of a minister. He moved to Phoenix, Arizona, at a young age and still lives in the state today. At age 17, he formed a rock band called the Earwigs, who changed their name to The Spiders and then The Nazz, before finally ...
20. Jon Bon Jovi
Soundtrack | Young Guns II
Jon Bon Jovi, was born John Francis Bongiovi, Jr. On March 2, 1962, in Perth Amboy, New Jersey to parents John Francis Bongiovi, Sr. and Carol Sharkey.
Family: Jon's mother, Carol Sharkey, was a former model and one of the first Playboy Bunnies. She met Bon Jovi's father after she enlisted in the ...
21. Sting
Actor | Dune
Sting was born Gordon Matthew Sumner on 2 October, 1951 in Wallsend, North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, the eldest of four children of Audrey (Cowell), a hairdresser, and Ernest Matthew Sumner, an engineer and milkman. He received his name from a striped sweater he wore which looked like a bee...
22. Bryan Adams
Soundtrack | Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams rose to fame with the release of his third album, "Cuts Like a Knife" (1983). The album made him popular throughout the United States. However, it was his fourth album "Reckless" (1984), which is referred to as one of the best albums of the decade that made ...
23. Ann Wilson
Soundtrack | The Golden Child
Singer, flute player, songwriter, and guitarist Ann Dustin Wilson was born on June 19, 1950 in San Diego, California. The daughter of Brig. Gen. John B. Wilson USMC, Wilson and her family moved around a lot, before eventually settling in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, WA. Ann attended Interlake ...
Lead singer of Heart
24. Morten Harket
Actor | A-ha: The Living Daylights
Morten Harket is the singer and front man in the Norwegian pop-group, a-ha since 1982. The group reached the top of the Billboard hit 100 with the classic falsetto-song "Take On Me" in 1985. Morten, Magne Furuholmen and Pål Waaktaar, got most famous for the a-ha: Take on Me (1985) video with ...
Lead singer of A-ha
25. Paul McCartney
Soundtrack | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sir Paul McCartney is a key figure in contemporary culture as a singer, composer, poet, writer, artist, humanitarian, entrepreneur, and holder of more than 3 thousand copyrights. He is in the "Guinness Book of World Records" for most records sold, most #1s (shared), most covered song, "Yesterday," ...
26. Ray Parker Jr.
Soundtrack | Ghostbusters
Guitarist/songwriter/producer Ray Parker Jr. had hits as Raydio (the million-selling "Jack and Jill," "You Can't Change That"), Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio ("Two Places at the Same Time," "A Woman Needs Love [Just Like You Do]"), and Ray Parker Jr. (the number one R&B and pop gold single "Ghostbusters"...
27. Terri Nunn
Soundtrack | Better Off Dead...
Terri Nunn was born on June 26, 1959 in Baldwin Hills, California, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for Better Off Dead (1985), Thank God It's Friday (1978) and Banished (2007). She has been married to Paul Spear since May 17, 1998. They have one child.
Lead singer of Berlin
28. Phil Collins
Soundtrack | Tarzan
Phil Collins was born in Chiswick, London, England, to Winifred (Strange), a theatrical agent, Greville Philip Austin Collins, an insurance agent. He spent most of his early entertainment life as a young actor and model. He played the "Artful Dodger" in the West End production of "Oliver!" ...
29. Lou Gramm
Soundtrack | The Lost Boys
Lou Gramm was born on May 2, 1950 in Rochester, New York, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for The Lost Boys (1987), Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) and Footloose (1984).
Lead singer of Foreigner
30. Bonnie Tyler
Soundtrack | Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Born on June 8, 1951 in Skewen, Neath, Wales. She first came to prominence in 1976 with the song, "Lost in France", which made the UK top 10. Following a throat operation, she inadvertently developed her distinct singing voice. She had a transatlantic top 5 hit with "It's a Heartache" in 1978.
She ...
31. Eddie Money
Soundtrack | Over the Top
Eddie Money was born on March 21, 1949 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Over the Top (1987), The Iron Claw (2023) and Sideways (2004). He was married to Laurie Money and Margo Lee Walker. He died on September 13, 2019 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
32. Freddie Mercury
Soundtrack | Flash Gordon
Freddie Mercury was born on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar. His parents, Bomi and Jer Bulsara, sent him off to a private school in India, from 1955 til 1963. In 1964, he and his family flew to England. In 1966 he started his education at the Ealing College of Art, where he graduated in 1969. He ...
33. Agnetha Fältskog
Soundtrack | Låt den rätte komma in
Agnetha Fältskog was born on April 5, 1950 in Jönköping, Jönköpings län, Sweden. She is a music artist and actress, known for Let the Right One In (2008), P & B (1983) and Raskenstam (1983). She was previously married to Tomas Sonnenfeld and Björn Ulvaeus.
Lead singer of ABBA
Suggested by Breumaster
34. Grace Slick
Soundtrack | American Hustle
Grace Slick was born on October 30, 1939 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for American Hustle (2013), Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) and Brooklyn's Finest (2009). She was previously married to Skip Johnson and Jerry Slick.
35. Aretha Franklin
Actress | The Blues Brothers
Grammy-winning Queen of Soul and the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Aretha Louise Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Barbara Vernice (Siggers) and C. L. Franklin, a Baptist minister, who preached at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit for over thirty ...
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