Hear 'n Aid was a charity record released in 1986. The record featured a supergroup of 40 heavy metal musicians on a track called "Stars". A music video was released as well, produced during the recording sessions. Proceeds from the album were used to raise over $3 million for famine relief in Africa.

The project was spearheaded by Ronnie James Dio, Jimmy Bain, and Vivian Campbell of the band Dio, who also contributed a live version of "Hungry for Heaven" to the album. The project also included contributions from Tommy Aldridge, Blue Öyster Cult, Dokken, Giuffria, Judas Priest, Mötley Crüe, Night Ranger, Ted Nugent, Queensrÿche, Quiet Riot, Rough Cutt, Twisted Sister, Vanilla Fudge, W.A.S.P. and Y&T, as well as the parody band Spinal Tap, who performed in character.

Recording

In interview video footage taken during the event, Ronnie Dio said that while attending a 48-hour charity Radiothon for African famine relief at the radio station KLOS in Los Angeles, Bain and Campbell noticed that representation from hard rock and heavy metal stars was low. In light of the success of Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and USA for Africa's "We Are the World", they forwarded the idea of a similar project exclusively built around artists from the hard rock and heavy metal genres to Ronnie Dio, and together the three co-wrote "Stars".

"Stars" was recorded on 20 and 21 May 1985 with the first session at Sound City Studios and the second session moving to A&M Studios Studio A, where "We Are The World" was recorded. It was edited and mixed at Rumbo Recorders and mastered at Artisan Sound.

Lead vocals were shared between Ronnie James Dio, Rob Halford, Kevin DuBrow, Eric Bloom, Geoff Tate, Dave Meniketti, Don Dokken, and Paul Shortino. Vivian Campbell, Carlos Cavazo, Buck Dharma, Brad Gillis, Craig Goldy, George Lynch, Yngwie Malmsteen, Eddie Ojeda, and Neal Schon (whose Journey bandmate, Steve Perry, was part of "We Are the World") all added guitar solos. Ronnie & Wendy Dio received a commitment from Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page that he would do a guitar solo for "Stars" the day after Live Aid, as Led Zeppelin had reunited for the Philadelphia show. A recording session in Philadelphia was set up for July 14 (the day after Led Zeppelin performed) with staff donating their time for the recording. Without explanation, Page backed out of his original commitment.

Iron Maiden's Dave Murray and Adrian Smith were in the middle of their 'World Slavery Tour' at the time, and flew in to provide rhythm guitar lines for the main session, along with Campbell.

Release and reception

The single and album were originally intended to be released shortly after its recording, but contractual issues with the different artists' record labels delayed the release until New Year's Day 1986, somewhat diminishing the impact of its release.

Along with "Stars", the compilation album, titled Hear 'n Aid (or alternatively appearing as Hear 'n Aid (An All-Star Album for Famine Relief))", included "Go for the Throat", the B-side to Y&T's "All American Boy" single, and "Can You See Me" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, as well as live tracks by Accept, Motörhead, Rush, Kiss, Dio and Scorpions.

The "Stars" single was released on vinyl in both 7" and 12" versions. Both included a 4:43 edit of the track, and a "4 1/2 Minutes News" interviews with musicians who participated in the project. The 12" featured the original 7:04 version as well. The back of the record sleeve for the single had the following description:

The single "Stars" peaked at No. 26 in the UK Singles Chart in April 1986. The music video for "Stars" received moderate airplay on MTV's Heavy Metal Mania and afterward on MTV's replacement program Headbangers Ball.

The project also released a 30 minute Sony home video documentary, Hear 'n Aid: The Sessions, which was shot during the recording process and released on VHS and Video8 formats. The back cover for the documentary has the following description:

On 31 May 2004, VH1 premiered a five-night documentary special titled "100 Most Metal Moments", narrated by Dee Snider. At the conclusion, Hear 'n Aid was ranked as the "No. 1 Most Metal Moment".

The following CD release info needs verification as Wendy Dio indicated as late as 2011 that it was only ever released on vinyl and cassette.

Track listing

Personnel

Track 1: "Stars"

Hear 'n Aid

Lead vocals

  • Ronnie James Dio (Dio)
  • Dave Meniketti (Y&T)
  • Rob Halford (Judas Priest)
  • Kevin DuBrow (Quiet Riot)
  • Eric Bloom (Blue Öyster Cult)
  • Paul Shortino (Rough Cutt)
  • Geoff Tate (Queensrÿche)
  • Don Dokken (Dokken)

Backing vocals

  • Tommy Aldridge
  • Dave Alford (Rough Cutt)
  • Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge/King Kobra)
  • Vinny Appice (Dio)
  • Jimmy Bain (Dio)
  • Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot)
  • Mick Brown (Dokken)
  • Vivian Campbell (Dio)
  • Carlos Cavazo (Quiet Riot)
  • Amir Derakh (Rough Cutt)
  • Buck Dharma (Blue Öyster Cult)
  • Brad Gillis (Night Ranger)
  • Craig Goldy (Giuffria)
  • Chris Hager (Rough Cutt)
  • Chris Holmes (W.A.S.P.)
  • Blackie Lawless (W.A.S.P.)
  • George Lynch (Dokken)
  • Yngwie Malmsteen
  • Mick Mars (Mötley Crüe)
  • Michael McKean (in character, and credited as David St. Hubbins of Spinal Tap)
  • Vince Neil (Mötley Crüe)
  • Ted Nugent
  • Eddie Ojeda (Twisted Sister)
  • Jeff Pilson (Dokken)
  • Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot)
  • Claude Schnell (Dio)
  • Neal Schon (Journey)
  • Harry Shearer (in character, and credited as Derek Smalls of Spinal Tap)
  • Mark Stein (Vanilla Fudge)
  • Matt Thorr (Rough Cutt)

Lead guitar solos

<br>

1st solo:

  • Craig Goldy (Giuffria)
  • Eddie Ojeda (Twisted Sister)

2nd solo:

  • Vivian Campbell (Dio)
  • Brad Gillis (Night Ranger)

3rd solo:

  • Neal Schon (Journey)
  • George Lynch (Dokken)

4th solo:

  • Yngwie Malmsteen
  • Vivian Campbell (Dio)

5th solo:

  • George Lynch (Dokken)
  • Carlos Cavazo (Quiet Riot)

6th solo:

  • Brad Gillis (Night Ranger)
  • Buck Dharma (Blue Öyster Cult)

Rhythm guitar melody lines

  • Dave Murray (Iron Maiden)
  • Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden)

Bass

  • Jimmy Bain (Dio)

Drums

  • Vinny Appice (Dio)
  • Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot)

Keyboards

  • Claude Schnell (Dio)

Track 2: "Up to the Limit"

Accept

  • Vocals - Udo Dirkschneider
  • Guitars - Wolf Hoffmann
  • Guitars - Jörg Fischer
  • Bass guitar - Peter Baltes
  • Drums - Stefan Kaufmann

Track 3: "On the Road"

Mötorhead

  • Vocals, bass guitar - Lemmy Kilmister
  • Rhythm guitar - Phil "Wizzö" Campbell
  • Lead guitar - Michael "Würzel" Burston
  • Drums - Pete Gill

Track 4: "Distant Early Warning" Live

Rush

  • Bass and rhythm guitar, vocals, synthesizers, and bass pedal synthesizer - Geddy Lee
  • Electric and acoustic guitars, and bass pedal synthesizer - Alex Lifeson
  • Drums and percussion - Neil Peart

Track 5: "Heaven's on Fire" Live

Kiss

  • Rhythm guitar, lead vocals - Paul Stanley
  • Bass guitar, lead vocals - Gene Simmons
  • Drums, backing vocals - Eric Carr
  • Lead guitar - Bruce Kulick

Track 6: "Can You See Me"

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

  • Guitar, lead vocals - Jimi Hendrix
  • Bass guitar - Noel Redding
  • Drums - Mitch Mitchell

Track 7: "Hungry for Heaven" Live

Dio

  • Vocals - Ronnie James Dio
  • Guitar - Vivian Campbell
  • Bass guitar - Jimmy Bain
  • Drums - Vinny Appice
  • Keyboards - Claude Schnell

Track 8: "Go for the Throat"

Y&T

  • Lead vocals, lead guitar - Dave Meniketti
  • Rhythm guitar, backing vocals - Joey Alves
  • Bass guitar, backing vocals - Phil Kennemore
  • Drums, backing vocals - Leonard Haze

Track 9: "The Zoo" Live

Scorpions

  • Lead vocals - Klaus Meine
  • Lead guitar, voice-box, backing vocals - Matthias Jabs
  • Rhythm guitar, backing vocals - Rudolf Schenker
  • Bass guitar, backing vocals - Francis Buchholz
  • Drums, percussion, backing vocals - Herman Rarebell

Charts

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!scope="col"|Chart (1986)

!scope="col"|Peak<br>position

|-

|Australia (Kent Music Report)

|align=center|76

|}

The non-profit

Prior to the album release, and indicative of their business acumen and commitment to the project's success, Ronnie Dio, Bain and Campbell established Hear 'n Aid as a full fledged non-profit, presumably to avoid experiencing similar missteps and pitfalls encountered with previous African aid efforts. "Hear ’n Aid had to be a non-profit organisation… We had to set up a board of directors, fourteen people, and all decisions had to be made by the board. My role was getting the licensing." - Wendy Dio contained an entry crediting the project with having raised $1 million within a year. In a 2017 article written for Classic Rock, Ronnie's wife and manager, Wendy Dio, estimated the project's total amount raised to be over $3 million. On 26 July 26 1986 some of the members of Hear 'n Aid reunited to perform “Stars” as the encore for Dio’s concert at Southern California’s Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. "We have so much stuff that was never released before — behind-the-scenes stuff that was shot during the whole time. We have photos galore of everybody that was involved in it, and I think it'll be fantastic. We just have to work on it. It may not come out this year, because I want everything to be perfect, as Ronnie would want it to be, but I am in talks about it, and that will be coming out, definitely."

In April 2015, Wendy Dio confirmed that a modern-day version of Hear 'n Aid was in the works to record a "new song" and released alongside the upcoming reissue of "Stars". She had stated that "legal stuff" was the cause of the reissue delay.

References

  • Hear 'n Aid: The Sessions 1986 30 minute music documentary footage gleaned from the recording sessions.
  • "Stars" lyrics at Genius Lyrics