
Parts of this benefit single have aged poorly — specifically, the Quincy Jones fanfare that opens the thing and the Cyndi Lauper shrieking-dolphin interlude. But the song itself, written by Jackson and Lionel Richie, is a wonder, flexible enough to accommodate the vocal styles of everyone from Kenny Rogers to Bob Dylan. And at the 2:40 mark, when Jackson sings the bridge in a classic “‘scuse me, genius coming through” moment, he proves that his style tops them all.