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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Sheila E. said Prince would have felt uncomfortable among the many musicians gathered to record “We Are the World.” That is her recollection of why he stayed away—not a motive Prince stated publicly in the accounts cited here. In the 2024 documentary The Greatest Night in Pop, she also described waiting for a verse while producers repeatedly asked her to bring him to the studio.
What did Sheila E. say about Prince and “We Are the World”?
Sheila E. (Sheila Escovedo) said she believed Prince would be uncomfortable in the crowded session. TIME reported her explanation in its January 29, 2024 account of the documentary. It is her interpretation of his likely reaction, rather than a first-person explanation from Prince.
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Sheila E. had expected to sing one of the verses. As she recalled in The Greatest Night in Pop, the producers kept asking her whether she could persuade Prince to attend: “It was getting late and I was looking forward to singing one of the verses, but they kept asking, ‘Well, do you think you can get Prince here?’ ” (Netflix Tudum.)
Netflix Tudum’s account says Sheila E. came to suspect that she had been invited in part to draw Prince to the studio. She left. Her account explains why she thought he would not come, and why the evening became frustrating for her; it does not establish Prince’s private reasoning.
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- Prince Music - Purple Rain Album
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What happened to Prince’s place in the recording?
The “We Are the World” session took place at A&M Studios in Los Angeles on January 28, 1985, after the American Music Awards. The charity single was made to support famine relief in Africa, and its planners had reserved a solo for Prince opposite Michael Jackson. Prince did not join the group vocal session; Huey Lewis sang the part instead. (Netflix Tudum; Associated Press; TIME.)
The Associated Press also reported that Prince was at a Mexican restaurant on the Sunset Strip and offered to record an isolated guitar solo. That reported offer is separate from participating in the ensemble vocal session: it does not mean he came to sing with the group.
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Why the explanation needs attribution
Sheila E.’s account is the clearest explanation in these cited reports, but it is still an account of what she believed Prince would feel. The other documented details—the solo reserved for him, Huey Lewis filling it, and the separate guitar offer reported by AP—describe what happened around the session, not Prince’s confirmed motive for declining to join it.
The recording became a major event: TIME’s 2024 article counted 45 major music names at the session. TIME also recounted a figure from its March 25, 1985 issue: Tower Records’ Sunset Boulevard store sold 1,000 copies in two days, compared with about 100–125 in a typical week. Those numbers illustrate the scale and early sales of “We Are the World”; they do not explain Prince’s decision.
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