"We Are The World" Debuts At #2

Nearly 25 years after hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, charity single "We Are the World" makes its way back to chart, debuting at No. 2, thanks to the all-star collective Artists for Haiti. "World" trails Ke$ha's "TiK ToK,' which holds at No. 1 for a ninth straight week.

Over 80 artists, ranking from today's young hitmakers (Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus) to legendary vocalists (Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand) gathered in Los Angeles to re-record the 80s classic on February 1st, a day after the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.

The video for "We Are the World 25: For Haiti" premiered during the first two days of the XXI Winter Olympics on NBC (Friday & Saturday, Feb. 12 & 13) with the title hitting digital retailers on Friday evening. With just over two days of sales, "World" moves 267,000 downloads and enters the Digital Songs chart at No. 1, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The original "World," by USA for Africa debuted at No. 21 on the Hot 100 in the issue dated March 23, 1985 and rose to No. 1 three weeks later, where it held for four successive weeks.

Released six years before the advent of Nielsen SoundScan piece-count sales data, USA for Africa's version was certified for sales of 4 million copies (4x Platinum) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) within a month of its release.