Kind of mentioned it, Bette Midler and Aykroyd got in because of Ken Kragen
In any event, reader Don S. wrote in to ask a question that many people have been wondering over the years, including folks back in 1985, which is why was Dan Aykroyd, obviously part of the famous Blue Brothers, but not really a notable enough musician in and of himself, included in the all-star chorus on “We Are the World” when, you know, guys like John Denver were not.
As it turns out, like many of the other odd things about “We Are the World,” including “Why was Madonna excluded?” and “Why did Kim Carnes get the nod over any number of other famous female singers?,” the answer boiled down to Ken Kragen, the talent manager who put the whole thing together. It was Kragen who made sure that his top clients all got into the event (like Kenny Rogers and Carnes), it was Kragen who got one of his clients, Lionel Richie, to put the whole thing together, it was Kragen who decided that Madonna wasn’t going to be invited, it was Kragen who ultimately decided to not allow English and Australian singers to participate in the event, and it was Kragen who got Dan Aykroyd into the event.
As Aykroyd recalled to New Hampshire magazine in 2009:
Kragen, of course, was the talent manager in question.
So, yeah, the answer to so many “We Are the World” questions is simply, “Because Ken Kragen felt like it.”