“A Song Is A Mantra” On September 11th
“…a song is a mantra, something you repeat over and over. And we need peace, we need giving, we need love, we need unity.” ~Michael Jackson
“What More Can I Give” is a song written by American musician Michael Jackson and recorded by a supergroup of singers following the September 11 attacks in 2001. The inspiration for the song had initially come to Jackson after a meeting with the President of South Africa Nelson Mandela in the late 1990s.”
“Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, Michael rewrote “What More Can I Give”. He said, “I’m not one to sit back and say, ‘Oh, I feel bad for what happened to them… I want the whole world to sing “What More Can I Give,” to bring us together as a world, because a song is a mantra, something you repeat over and over. And we need peace, we need giving, we need love, we need unity.”
“As a humanitarian effort Michael, and other artists, recorded the new version of the song shortly afterward. The project had received an “overwhelming response from major artists all over the world,” with musicians such as Beyonce Knowles, Celine Dion, Luther Vandross, Mariah Carey, Usher, Nick Carter, Aaron Carter, NSYNC and Carlos Santana offering to lend their voices to the track. The recording process was held in Los Angeles, California and destinations reachable by Michael Jackson’s private plane and mobile production unit.”
“What More Can I Give” was performed live at the 9/11 benefit concert “United We Stand: What More Can I Give.” Held at the RFobert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington D.C. on October 21, 2001, the eight-hour concert featured numerous artists performing to a sell-out audience of 54,000 people. Jackson performed his songs “We Are the World” and “Man In The Mirror“, before he and other singers such as Rod Stewart, Al Green, James Brown, Sean Combs, Pink and many of the original recording artists, closed the show with “What More Can I Give.” ~excerpts from Wikipedia
Thank you for remembering…