Instead, Richie was doing his judging virtually from his home as a result of being exposed to COVID-19, so he was taking the necessary precaution of quarantining to keep everyone safe. But Richie has been thinking about what more he can do during the pandemic. A while back, he and Jeb Bush invested in Heal, a 5-year-old start-up company whose goal is to provide telemedicine visits through a mobile phone or online device. During the pandemic, many doctors were offering appointments via Zoom, so Heal was an idea whose time was right. Plus, he has been thinking about raising funds for COVID-19 relief efforts by remaking the 1985 hit “We are the World,” celebrating its 35th anniversary. In March 1985, Richie, Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Joel, Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross and more than 40 other A-list recording artists came together to sing “We Are the World.” The money at that time went to relieve famine in Africa. Richie co-wrote that song, which sold $63 million, with Jackson. The chorus said, “There’s a choice we’re making, we’re saving our own lives.” And for Richie, that is still true today. He recently told People, “That line came about as Michael and I were sitting there talking. We said, you can either say, ‘I’m saving my life’ or ‘We’re saving our lives.’ ‘We Are the World’ is a statement we wanted to make. What do we do to save our own?” Richie also revealed on a recent visit with Jimmy Kimmel that he will be singing “We Are the World” on the season finale of American Idol along with Perry, Bryan and the Idol contestants. “I was very excited about presenting it to them,” he told Kimmel, “because I’ve been asked 1,001 times are you going to write another song for what’s happening in the world? And my answer is, ‘Exactly the lyrics I would have written for the new song are in the old song.’ When Michael and I wrote ‘We Are the World,’ it was to let everybody know if we don’t solve the problem over there, it’s going to be over here. And sure enough, 35 years later, it is now over here. And so, the lyrics work perfectly.” American Idol airs Sunday and Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Next, See Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Every American Idol Winners’ First Auditions
