Jackson told Richie that he not only wanted to sing the song, but to participate in its writing as well. The song-writing team originally included Wonder whose time was constrained by his song-writing for the film "The Woman in Red". So, Jackson and Richie proceeded to write "We Are the World" themselves at Hayvenhurst, the Jackson family home in Encino, California. For a week, the two spent every night working on lyrics and melodies in Jackson's bedroom. They knew that they wanted a song that would be easy to sing and memorable. The pair wanted to create an anthem. Jackson's older sister La Toya watched the two work on the song, and later contended that Richie only wrote a few lines for the track. She stated that her younger brother wrote 99% of the lyrics, "but he's never felt it necessary to say that". La Toya further commented on the song's creation in an interview with the U.S. celebrity news magazine "People". "I'd go into the room while they were writing and it would be very quiet, which is odd, since Michael's usually very cheery when he works. It was very emotional for them."