and more than 35 other artists, with the goal of raising $50 million for numerous charities in response to the
. A
version was also recorded. Jackson was originally inspired to write the song after meeting with former South African president
in 1999, and commented that the song was intended to "find solace in the wake of the attack on America and to create a sense of global unity in the face of mindless violence and mass murder."
The single was never released due to a conflict between Jackson and Sony Music. Sony believed the release would create a marketing conflict with
, his then-new album. However, even months after Invincibles release, Sony still refused to release the single. This was one of several factors in Jackson's labelling Sony chief
a "racist" who he believed had sabotaged the marketing of his new material, and thus announcing his withdrawal from
. While the song never saw proper retail release, a pay download was eventually made available via whatmorecanigive.com, the (now defunct) official site.
Sony, however, claimed that it was Jackson's own people that pulled the single from release because it was learned that the song's executive producer, Marc Schaffel, was a former director of gay pornography, and, thus, they did not want him to be associated with Michael Jackson or a charity-benefit single.
benefit concert called United We Stand: What More Can I Give?. This was Jackson's last brand new song performed.
In October 2003, The making of the song was shown at the 2003 Radio City Music Awards, where Jackson was presented with a humanitarian award.
Although it wasn't a proper music video, the videoclip for the single contained footage from the
concert. The Spanish version of the single did not have a music video.
The following is a list of all the artists involved. The list includes which version of the song they appear on.
| Artist |
Appears on English version? |
Appears on Spanish version? |
| 3LW 3LW was an American hip hop, pop and R&B girl group that enjoyed a number of modest hits during the early 2000s. Its founding members were Naturi Naughton, Adrienne Bailon, and Kiely Williams, with Jessica Benson, who replaced Naturi after she left the group in 2002...
|
Yes |
No |
| Aaron Carter Aaron Charles Carter is an American singer. He is the younger brother of singer Nick Carter, from the boy band Backstreet Boys. He came to fame as a pop and hip hop singer in the late-1990s, establishing himself as a star among preteen and teenage audiences during the early-2000s...
|
Yes |
No |
| Alejandro Sanz Alejandro Sanz, born Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro on December 18 1968 in Madrid, is an award winning, Spanish pop/ballad musician and singer-songwriter. Sanz is the recipient of 15 Latin Grammy Awards and two Grammy Awards...
|
No |
Yes |
| Anastacia Anastacia is an American singer-songwriter. Anastacia has been highly successful in Europe, Asia, Oceania, South Africa and South America but has not had as much success in her native United States...
|
Yes |
Yes |
| Beyoncé |
Yes |
No |
| Billy Gilman William "Billy" Wendell Gilman III is an American country music artist. In 2000, at the age of 12, he debuted with the single "One Voice," a Top 20 hit on the Billboard country music charts and became the youngest singer to chart a Top 40 hit on the country music charts...
|
Yes |
No |
| Brian McKnight Brian McKnight is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, and pop and R&B musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist who can play nine instruments: piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussions, trombone, tuba, French horn and trumpet.-Biography:McKnight's musical career began with a...
|
Yes |
Yes |
BrytonBryton Eric McClure is an American actor and singer, also credited as Bryton and Bryton James. He is best known for his childhood role as Richie Crawford on the ABC/CBS sitcom Family Matters, and his current role as Devon Hamilton on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless...
|
Yes |
No |
Carlos SantanaCarlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican-born American Grammy Award-winning rock musician and guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered a blend of rock, salsa and jazz fusion. The band's sound featured his melodic, blues-based...
|
Yes |
Yes |
| Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion , CC, OQ is a Canadian singer, occasional songwriter, actress, and entrepreneur. Born to a large, impoverished family in Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to...
|
Yes |
Yes |
| Cristian Castro Cristian Castro is a Grammy Award-nominated Mexican pop singer. He is referred to as "Christian Castro", "Cristian", or "El Gallito Feliz" .- Biography :He is the son of renowned actress and singer Verónica Castro and comedian Manuel "El Loco" Valdes...
|
No |
Yes |
| Gloria Estefan Gloria Estefan is a Grammy Award-winning Cuban-American singer and songwriter. She is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 90 million albums sold worldwide, 26.5 million of those in the United States alone...
|
Yes |
Yes |
HansonHanson is an American rock and roll band formed in Tulsa, Oklahoma by brothers Isaac, Taylor, and Zac Hanson. They are best known for the 1997 hit song "MMMBop" from their major label debut album Middle of Nowhere that earned three Grammy nominations...
|
Yes |
No |
| Jon Secada Jon Secada is a Cuban-American singer and songwriter. Secada was born in Havana, Cuba, and raised in Hialeah, Florida. He has won two Grammy Awards and sold 20 million albums since his English-language debut album in 1992. His music fuses funk, soul, pop and Latin percussion...
|
Yes |
Yes |
| Joy Enriquez Joy Charity Enriquez is an American singer and actress who has appeared on the television series 7th Heaven and also starred in films such as Chasing Papi and Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure...
|
No |
Yes |
| Juan Gabriel Alberto Aguilera Valadez , better known by his stage name Juan Gabriel, is a Mexican singer and songwriter who is one of the most famous living representatives of the Mexican ranchera, ballad, mariachi, and pop music....
|
No |
Yes |
Julio IglesiasJulio Iglesias is a Spanish singer who has sold over 300 million copies in 14 languages and released 77 albums. According to Sony Music he is one of the top 10 best selling music artists ever...
|
No |
Yes |
| Laura Pausini Laura Pausini is an Italian pop singer, popular in several European, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries, famed for her powerful voice, her romantic adult contemporary ballads and love songs. She is fluent in several languages and has recorded songs in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish,...
|
No |
Yes |
| Luis Miguel |
No |
Yes |
| Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
|
Yes |
Yes |
| Mariah Carey Mariah Carey is an American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, and became the first recording artist to have her first five singles top the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart...
|
Yes |
Yes |
| Michael McCary Michael Sean McCary is an American R&B singer, best known as the former bass singer of the popular R&B group, Boyz II Men....
from Boyz II MenBoyz II Men is a Grammy Award-winning American group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Initiated during 1988 as a quintet which originally included Marc Nelson, Boyz II Men found fame as a quartet, with members Nathan Morris, Michael McCary, Shawn Stockman,and Wanya Morris on Motown Records during...
|
Yes |
No |
| Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson , known as the "King of Pop", was an American musician and one of the most commercially successful and influential entertainers of all time...
|
Yes |
Yes |
| Mýa Mya may refer to:* Mýa, an American R&B/hip-hop singer and actress** Mýa , 1998 album by Mýa* Midwest Young Artists, a comprehensive youth music program* Mya , an Italian Television channel...
|
Yes |
Yes |
| 'N Sync N Sync was an American popgroup. The group's launch to fame was financed by the boy band mogul Lou Pearlman. Since 1997, 'N Sync has sold over 56 million records worldwide....
|
Yes |
Yes |
| Nick Carter Nickolas Gene "Nick" Carter is an American actor, musician, and pop singer. He is youngest member of the musical group The Backstreet Boys and the older brother of Aaron Carter. At the turn of the 21st century he was one of the biggest American superstars...
from Backstreet BoysThe Backstreet Boys are a Grammy-nominated American vocal group. They were launched by boy band producer Lou Pearlman, and have been together since April 20, 1993...
|
Yes |
No |
| Olga Tañón Olga Teresa Tañón Ortíz is a two-time Grammy Award and three-time Latin Grammy-winning Merengue and Latin Pop artist. Tañón has earned 5 Latin Grammy Awards and 19 Premios Lo Nuestro awards during her career....
|
No |
Yes |
Reba McEntireReba Nell McEntire is a Grammy award-winning American country music artist. She began her career in the music industry singing with her siblings on local radio shows and rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma City, which caught the attention of country artist Red...
|
Yes |
No |
| Ricky Martin Enrique Martín Morales , better known by his stage name Ricky Martin, is a Grammy Award- and Latin Grammy Award- winning, Puerto Rican pop singer who rose to fame, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.His career has spanned over three decades and has sold...
|
Yes |
Yes |
Rubén BladesRubén Blades Bellido de Luna is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres...
|
No |
Yes |
ShakiraShakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer and philanthropist who emerged as a musical prodigy in the music scene of Latin America in the early 1990s...
|
Yes |
Yes |
| Shawn Stockman Shawn Patrick Stockman is an African-American R&B singer, best known as a member of the vocal group Boyz II Men.Stockman recorded a solo album as a side project during the late 1990s, but the LP was never released...
from Boyz II Men |
Yes |
No |
ThalíaAriadna Thalía Sodi Miranda, known simply as Thalía, is a Mexican pop singer and former actress. Her name is linked to popular soap operas which made her famous. Thalia began her musical career at the age of 9. Her soap operas have been watched by over one billion people...
|
Yes |
Yes |
UsherUsher Raymond IV , who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American recording artist and actor. He rose to fame in the 1990s, releasing the multi-platinum album My Way and 8701...
|
Yes |
No |
| Tom Petty Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
|
Yes |
No |
| Ziggy Marley David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley is a four time Grammy-winning Jamaican musician and leader of the band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers...
|
Yes |
No |
Jesse McCartney Jesse McCartney is an American singer-songwriter and actor. McCartney rose to fame in the early 2000s as member of the boy band Dream Street. He branched into a solo career, having appeared in the television series Summerland and as a recurring character in the ABC Family series Greek.-Early...
|
Yes |
No |