"I Am the World" is a song recorded by the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

, written and sung by

Robin Gibb Robin Hugh Gibb (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) was a British singer and songwriter. He gained worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group with elder brother Barry and fraternal twin brother Maurice. Robin Gibb also had his o ...

. It was released as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of " Spicks and Specks". Later, it was included on the compilation ''Rare, Precious and Beautiful, Vol. 3'' in 1969. It featured

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

played by

Geoff Grant Geoff Grant is an American former professional tour tennis player. Biography Grant reached a career high tour singles ranking of World No. 109 in November 1998. This came shortly after he achieved his best tournament result, reaching the thi ...

. Its CD version was released in 1998 on the compilation ''Brilliant from Birth''.

Recording

It was the last recorded on the last month of '' Spicks and Specks'' sessions which was started in June until July 1966, recorded the same time as the title track. After this song, they recorded a number of songs which was later included on ''

Inception/Nostalgia ''Inception/Nostalgia'' is a 1970 compilation album of previously unreleased songs recorded by the Bee Gees in 1966. This double album contains a mixture of both self-penned songs and covers. The first LP in the set is titled ''Inception'' whil ...

'' (1970). Trumpeter Geoff Grant recalls "I Am the World" along with four songs "Spicks and Specks", " All by Myself" and "The Storm" that he was working three nights recording that songs. It was one of the first songs to be written by Robin alone.

Personnel

—

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

* Maurice Gibb —

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

* Barry Gibb - guitar * Colin Petersen —

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Geoff Grant —

* Uncredited musicians —

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

Robin Gibb version

Robin Gibb recorded his own version in 2008. It was released on his posthumous album ''

50 St. Catherine's Drive ''50 St. Catherine's Drive'' is the seventh and final album by singer-songwriter Robin Gibb, released on 29 September 2014 in the United Kingdom and 30 September 2014 in the United States on Rhino Records. The album was named after the address o ...

'' (2014). It was rewritten with Peter-John Vettese who produced the album. It was chosen as the album's first single released on 11 September 2014 and was added to BBC Radio 2 playlist. In the UK,

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...

issued a promotional single of "I Am the World".

Cover versions

* Johnny Young (a friend of the Gibbs) covered this song and used as the B-side of "

Craise Finton Kirk Royal Academy of Arts "Craise Finton Kirk Royal Academy of Arts" is a song by the Bee Gees on the album ''Bee Gees' 1st''. Written by Barry and Robin Gibb, it closes the first side of the album. An alternate take was released in 2006 on ''The Studio Albums 1967-1968' ...

" (the song was originally performed by the Bee Gees and first released on the album ''

Bee Gees' 1st ''Bee Gees' 1st'' is the third studio album by English group Bee Gees, and their first international full-length recording after two albums distributed only in Australia and New Zealand. ''Bee Gees' 1st'' was the group's debut album for the UK Po ...

''). Young's version was released by Polydor in the United Kingdom and Clarion Records in Australia in August 1967. *

Bev Harrell Beverley Anne Harrell, (born 24 October 1946) is an Australian pop singer and musical theatre actress, most famous for her 1966 Australian hit "What Am I Doing Here with You?". Biography Harrell was born on 24 October 1946 in North Adelaide t ...

covered "I Am the World" released as the B-side of "One Way Ticket" in October 1968. * Canadian singer

Renée Martel Renée Martel (26 June 1947 – 18 December 2021) was a French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco- ...

recorded a French-language cover of the song (as "Je suis la terre") in 1971, featured on her album ''Mon Roman D'Amour'' that year.

References

{{authority control 1966 singles 1966 songs Bee Gees songs Songs written by Robin Gibb Robin Gibb songs Polydor Records singles 1967 singles Johnny Young songs Spin Records (Australian label) singles 2014 singles Song recordings produced by Peter-John Vettese