Prince Was in Town—So Why Did He Refuse to Sing on ‘We Are the World’?

Forty years ago, a group of music legends gathered in a Los Angeles studio to record We Are the World, a song that would go on to raise over $80 million for humanitarian efforts. The track, co-written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, featured voices from across the musical spectrum—Diana Ross, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and many more. However, one notable absence raised eyebrows: Prince. Despite being one of the biggest stars of the ’80s, he refused to participate, leaving fans to wonder why.

Prince’s absence was particularly surprising given that he was one of the first musicians approached for the project. Quincy Jones, the track’s producer, reached out to the “Purple Rain” star directly. His longtime engineer, Susan Rogers, remembers Prince’s response, noting that he was offered the chance to play guitar on the track—but turned it down. “He declined it,” Rogers recounts in Alan Light’s Let’s Go Crazy: Prince and the Making of Purple Rain. “Prince said, ‘Can I play guitar on it?’ And they said no.” It was a clear sign that Prince wasn’t interested in simply joining the star-studded ensemble—he wanted creative control.

The timing was particularly strange. The night before the recording session, Prince performed an unforgettable rendition of “Purple Rain” at the American Music Awards, mere hours before the We Are the World session. The performance was hailed as one of his finest, and yet, he did not show up for the recording the next day. The excuse? A rumor spread by his co-manager, Bob Cavallo, claiming that Prince was too ill to attend, a story that was later debunked.

Prince’s band, the Revolution, was left in the dark about the session. “I don’t remember even knowing about We Are the World until that day,” keyboardist Lisa Coleman recalls. “We were talking backstage at the AMAs, and Prince didn’t even want us to go.” It seemed clear that Prince had no intention of being part of the charity single, and his frustration with his band’s curiosity only added to the mystery surrounding his absence.

Pressure from all sides to join the recording session came to no avail. Lionel Richie personally called Prince, urging him to come down to A&M Studios, but Prince remained firm in his refusal. Sheila E, his collaborator at the time, was also asked to join the session, but she quickly realized she had been invited as part of a strategy to lure Prince into the fold. “I feel like I’m being used because they want Prince to show up,” she said, echoing the sentiment of many who believed Prince’s absence was a deliberate statement.

So, what was the real reason for Prince’s no-show? Theories range from personal rivalry with Michael Jackson to a refusal to work with other musicians. Prince and Jackson were often compared, and their rivalry was well-documented, fueled in part by Jackson’s record-breaking success with Thriller, which outshone Prince’s own 1999. This competition reached a boiling point at a 1983 James Brown concert, where Prince was famously called onstage to perform with Jackson. The impromptu duet ended in an awkward and somewhat embarrassing moment for Prince, one that his inner circle believes was orchestrated by Jackson to humiliate him.

“Prince was pissed,” recalled guitarist Wendy Melvoin. “He didn’t want to see anyone there, especially not Michael.” The story goes that Prince was so furious about the onstage incident that he tried to chase Jackson down in his limo after the show, a tale confirmed by Quincy Jones in a 2018 interview. Jackson himself later remarked that he found the entire situation amusing.

Despite the personal animosities, some believed Prince simply didn’t like the song itself. Revolution guitarist Wendy Melvoin offered a simpler explanation: “He just hated the music.” Prince’s distaste for the song may have been compounded by his reluctance to be part of a large collaborative effort. Unlike many of his peers, Prince typically recorded alone, creating and arranging his music with total control. The idea of sharing space with dozens of other iconic musicians likely didn’t appeal to him.

Ultimately, Prince’s refusal to join the session, whether rooted in rivalry, pride, or creative independence, has become one of the most fascinating footnotes in music history. His absence from We Are the World remains a symbol of his fiercely individualistic approach to artistry—an artist who would only participate on his own terms, even if it meant sitting out one of the most significant charity events of his era.

And so, despite the collective efforts of Lionel Richie, Quincy Jones, and Sheila E to bring him into the fold, Prince stood apart, never lending his voice to the iconic track. The song’s success, however, didn’t hinge on his participation—We Are the World achieved its monumental success, raising millions and uniting some of the greatest voices in music history. But for Prince, sometimes being on the outside was just the way he preferred it.