Kevin Mazur/Associated Press
Producer Quincy Jones (left), singer Lionel Richie and producer Rickey Minor help organize the "We Are The World" recording session Monday in Los Angeles.
The charity anthem "We Are the World" has been given a hip-hop, pop twist by 80 artists who have rerecorded the 1980s hit in the same Hollywood studio where the original was cut 25 years ago.
Pink, Natalie Cole, Kanye West, Jennifer Hudson, Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Brian Wilson and others stood shoulder to shoulder Monday night on risers at Henson Recording studios, singing in hopes of aiding Haiti.
"This one, the enthusiasm, I've never seen anything like it," said Lionel Richie, who wrote the original "We Are the World" with Michael Jackson and oversaw the redux version with music mogul Quincy Jones.
Jones, who produced the 1985 anthem, announced plans to redo the song to benefit recovery efforts after the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti Jan. 12.
The song, officially titled "We Are the World -- 25 for Haiti," will premiere this month during coverage of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics on NBC.
Stars came together Monday afternoon and stayed several hours.
Later, rappers including Snoop Dogg, LL Cool J, Lil Wayne and Wyclef Jean recorded an interlude written by Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am.
The original "We Are the World" raised more than $30 million in 1985 for USA for Africa, a nonprofit group to fund hunger relief in Africa. Proceeds from the new song are to go to the We Are the World Foundation LLC, then be distributed to Haiti.
Couple: Not so 'Fair Wedding'
A newlywed couple say celebrity party planner David Tutera jilted them by dropping out of their lavish Singapore nuptials about 10 days before the ceremony -- a claim that Tutera disputed Monday.
Melissa Chin and Steve Choi filed a lawsuit Friday in New York. The two, who married as planned in August, said Tutera left them scrambling to pull off the six-figure affair.
They said they paid Tutera at least $265,000. But after travel arrangements hit a minor snag, the couple said, Tutera, who hosts "My Fair Wedding" on the WE TV network, not only didn't show but also canceled or didn't fulfill orders.
A Tutera spokeswoman said the couple missed a final payment and he was told not to come because the wedding fund had run dry. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
'Deadliest Catch' boss has stroke
The Seattle-based captain of the "Deadliest Catch" fishing vessel Cornelia Marie has been flown to Anchorage after suffering a stroke Friday night while the boat was in port at St. Paul Island, Alaska.
According to the vessel's Web site, Capt. Phil Harris underwent surgery last weekend.
The Discovery Channel reality show depicts the crab fishing industry in the dangerous waters off Alaska.
The Web site said family friend Derek Ray will take over the role of relief skipper.
-- From Our Press Services
Today's birthdays
Comedian Shelley Berman, 84; actress Blythe Danner, 67; singer Dennis Edwards (The Temptations), 67; actress Morgan Fairchild, 60; actor Nathan Lane, 54; actress Michele Greene, 48; country singer Matraca Berg, 46; actress Maura Tierney, 45; singer Daddy Yankee, 34; singer Jessica Harp, 28; rapper Sean Kingston, 28.
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