Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to Help Feed the Hungry With New Song “The Next Verse”

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are taking part in a new global initiative to feed the hungry. The legendary super producers are teaming with 100 Billion Meals cofounder Tony Robbins for “The Next Verse,” a project that features the recording of a new fundraising song produced by Jam and Lewis at the iHeart Theater in Burbank, CA. The final song and its music video will premiere globally on Dec. 25 across all streaming platforms, and it will air nationally on iHeart stations.

The recording happened Tuesday, Dec. 16, and features Dr. Dre, Janet Jackson, Sheila E., D.M.C., Aloe Blacc, Duran Duran, Pitbull, The War and Treaty, Andrea Bocelli, Sammy Hagar and Leona Lewis. The project is billed as “the first time ever, both live and remotely via Zoom, that celebrities and the public around the world can join in a creative effort of this magnitude.”

“We thought it would be fun to make it interactive,” Jimmy Jam explained to Billboard. “Where people can add verses or do videos nowadays, like with TikTok. Then that way, it becomes a living, breathing way to give. That way everybody can feel like they’re a part of it — not only in the creation of the song and subsequent versions of the song — rather than just watching us record the song on Dec. 16.”

Robbins cofounded 100 Billion Meals with former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley. 

“Hunger is one of the greatest solvable challenges of our time. No child should wonder where their next meal is coming from,” Beasley said in a statement. “This challenge exists to bring together the resources, the innovation and the collective will to deliver 100 billion meals and reshape the future of food for generations to come.”

100 Billion Meals aims to deliver 100 billion meals over a decade. 62 billion meals have been distributed in the 3 years since the non-profit’s inception.