Right up until 1984, apartheid in South Africa was pretty rampant. Little Steven Van Zandt, who had then parted ways with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, went to South Africa to do some research for his upcoming album and he did not like what he saw: A resort, Sun City, that had welcomed such performers as Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Rod Stewart, The O'Jays, Tina Turner and a handful of others.
Therefore, Van Zandt recruited some famous friends from the worlds of hip-hop, R&B, and rock -- including Run-DMC, the Temptations' Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin, Pat Benatar, Bonnie Raitt, U2, George Clinton, Keith Richards, Hall and Oates and Joey Ramone -- to form Artists United Against Apartheid and record the single "Sun City." The song itself was highly critical of President Ronald Reagan's "constructive engagement" policy towards South Africa. The policy offered other incentives for the country to move away from apartheid besides the UN-sponsored sanctions.
Please feel free to share any other songs I may have missed.
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