Synopsis

The seven-minute video begins with glossy, Las Vegas-style images of Sun City before cutting sharply to news footage of apartheid, police violence, unrest, and racial conflict in South Africa and the United States. Performers appear in gritty New York street settings, delivering the song's collective refusal to play at the resort. Images of Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., protesters, and the recording artists turn the clip into both a protest statement and a visual news report.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video premiered at the United Nations on October 30, 1985, and made its television debut on MTV the following day.

• Filming in Harlem and Greenwich Village attracted crowds of fans and anti-apartheid activists, giving the production the atmosphere of a public demonstration as well as a music shoot.

• The visual presentation deliberately contrasts the resort's polished tourist imagery with documentary footage of apartheid, unrest, police violence, and earlier civil-rights struggles in the United States.

• The project brought together more than 50 performers from rock, reggae, jazz, soul, and hip-hop, including Bruce Springsteen, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Cliff, Peter Gabriel, Run-D.M.C., and Bono.

• Unlike the largely charitable message of "We Are the World," "Sun City" demanded political change and promoted an entertainment boycott of the resort.

• The song's explicit criticism of apartheid and Ronald Reagan's policy of constructive engagement limited its radio exposure in the United States, even though the video received important MTV visibility.

• Proceeds from the wider "Sun City" project supported anti-apartheid causes and reportedly exceeded one million dollars.

• The video and the accompanying documentary were part of a broader media campaign that used music, journalism, and television to keep international attention on South Africa's liberation struggle.