. >> i don't think anybody, even like the iowa housewives, were saying, you know they're not sleepingright there as the underlined like this is not sexual at all. >> reporter: in july 1984, the jackson 5 reunited in a flurry of publicity. but their victory tour reviews were mixed. ♪ we are the world, we are the children ♪ >> reporter: months later, jackson partnered with lionel ritchie on an effort that was more warmly received. concerned about hunger in africa, ritchie and jackson wrote the song "we are the world" and assembled a supergroup of 200 artists to perform it. >> now, one great thing that happened that we both had to realize, i can't read or write music and michael cannot read or write music. so, how do you write a song called "we are the world"? so we started listening to tracks, de, de, de, de, de, du, du. we started -- this is where we started. >> reporter: it was a triumph for jackson. as a musician and as a humanitarian. despite the success of "we are the world" in the mid '80s, seemingly soft-spoken michael was retreating into a world all his own. >> michael had begun

. >> i don't think anybody, even like the iowa housewives, were saying, you know they're not sleepingere, underlying, like this is not sexual at all. >> reporter: in july 1984, the jackson 5 reunited in a flurry of publicity. but their victory tour reviews were mixed. ♪ we are the world, we are the children ♪ >> reporter: months later, jackson partnered with lionel ritchie on an effort that was more warmly received. concerned about hunger in africa, ritchie and jackson wrote the song "we are the world" and assembled a super group of two dozen artists to perform it. >> one great thing that happened that we had to realize, i can't read or write music, and michael can't read or write music. so, how do you write a song called "we are the world"? we started listening to tracks. we started -- this is where we started. >> reporter: it was a triumph for jackson. as a musician and as a humanitarian. despite the success of "we are the world" in the mid '80s, seemingly soft-spoken michael was retreating into a world all his own. >> michael had begun to exhibit a certain i think aloofness and a t