‘NSYNC, Britney Spears, Destiny’s Child, Alicia Keys and Ja Rule are among the artists who are lending their voices this week to an all-star remake of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” to benefit AIDS research.
U2 frontman Bono and hip-hop/R&B producer Jermaine Dupri are organizing what Dupri has called a “We Are the World”-like project. Backstreet Boys, Wyclef Jean, Christina Aguilera, No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani and the Roots’ ?uestlove are also participating in the recording, according to organizers.
Jennifer Lopez, Radiohead, Jagged Edge and Usher may also contribute, Dupri told MTV News last week.
Hundreds of artists are in New York this week for the MTV Video Music Awards on Thursday (September 6) and the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration, The Solo Years tribute shows on Friday and Monday.
Dupri said that Bono asked him to lead the project, dubbed Artists Against AIDS Worldwide. Proceeds from sales of the single, which will be released as soon as possible, will go toward AIDS research in Africa.
“He basically reached out to me to be the producer for the project,” Dupri said. “He’d been calling me from London. I guess he’s really lived with it. He’s been [making] some suggestions of what we could do at the end of the record to make it bigger.”
Unlike “We Are the World,” the recording of the song will not be handled in one huge session. Dupri is running several sessions at Battery Studios in New York with performers stopping in beginning Wednesday (September 5) and going through the end of the weekend.
A video will also be filmed for the song, organizers said, though the details are still being finalized.
Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones organized USA for Africa’s “We Are the World,” which was recorded the night of the Grammy Awards in 1985 and featured Bruce Springsteen, Sting and others. It won the Song of the Year Grammy the following year.
