On the morning of April 5, 1985 (Good Friday of that year), "We Are the World" received worldwide coverage. At 10:25 am, over 8000 radio stations simultaneously broadcast the song around the world. They played it to show their support for the relief of famine in Ethiopia.
The song was also broadcast by Muzak, a company which pipes background music into 110,000 stores and businesses in the US. It was the second time Muzak had played the sound of "human voice", the first being an announcement on the release of American hostages in Iran in 1981.
As the song was broadcast, hundreds of people sang along on the steps of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York.[45][54] The simultaneous radio broadcast of "We Are the World" was repeated again the following Good Friday.