When Lee Greenwood first released “God Bless the U.S.A.” in 1984, he had no idea how much the song would become America’s anthem 17 years later, after the tragic September 11 attacks on America. Keep reading to find out everything to know about Greenwood’s most popular song.
Who Wrote “God Bless the U.S.A’:
Greenwood wrote “God Bless the U.S.A.” by himself.
When Was “God Bless the U.S.A.” Written:
“God Bless the U.S.A.” was written in 1983. The song is on his You’ve Got a Good Love Comin’ album.
What Inspired “God Bless the U.S.A.”:
Greenwood was inspired to write “God Bless the U.S.A.” after the shooting down of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in 1983, killing everyone on board.
“I wanted to have something that would unite Americans from coast to coast and to instill pride back in the United States,” Greenwood explains. “The song represents my family, my community, and those men and women who have paid the price for the freedoms we all love and enjoy.”
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How “God Bless the U.S.A.” Became A Single:
When Greenwood wrote “God Bless the U.S.A.,” he never imagined the song would be released as a single, much less become one of the most popular patriotic songs of all time.
“I did it on my bus one night in ’83,” Greenwood recalls to The Tennessean. “I already had four albums, I think, two albums a year at the time. …That particular year, we already had an album song chosen, ‘You’ve Got a Good Love Comin’,’ the title of the album that year for release for 1984. When Universal made the call after they heard ‘U.S.A.’ on that album to release it as a single, I was just surprised. I think that if that had not happened, no one would have ever heard the song, and it probably would have just been one of those things in my discography that I was proud of, but it was more than that.
“When it got on the radio, the audience heard it,” he continues. “It became the song for the National Guard of Tennessee, and then the military, and then with President Reagan and his ‘84 campaign, which I was part of, and then moved forward to Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf War – not in that order – and the (September 11) attack on America. Each time, more Americans found ‘God Bless the ‘U.S.A’ to be a song of spirit and unity. It didn’t happen overnight.”
The Resurgence of “God Bless the U.S.A.” after 9/11:
“God Bless the U.S.A.” remained a mainstay in Greenwood’s shows, and at patriotic events throughout the country, since he wrote it. But when the tragic September 11 attack on the United States took place in 2001, the song had a massive resurgence, even landing in the Top 20 on Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100 chart in the aftermath.
“You can’t argue that after the Gulf War or after [Hurricane] Katrina or after the attack on America, that there could be a possible more important moment,” Greenwood tells Everything Nash. “I’ve sung it for ten different presidents and congressional appearances across the country and in Europe. It doesn’t lose its importance.”
What Lee Greenwood Says About Performing “God Bless the U.S.A.”
Greenwood has by now performed “God Bless the U.S.A.” hundreds of times. But perhaps surprisingly, he never, ever gets tired of singing the song.
“I’m just glad that I had the initiative to write it fairly early in my career, although I didn’t start my music career in Nashville until I was 37,” Greenwood tells Songwriter Universe. “’God Bless the U.S.A.’ stands at the pinnacle of my career, and it makes me very proud. When people hear it, particularly when there’s a crisis, it feels good that the song gives them a sense of comfort and security.”
The Legacy of “God Bless the U.S.A.”
“‘U.S.A.” is the song I always felt the need to write,” Greenwood tells Cowboys and Indians. “I wanted to have something that would unite Americans from coast to coast. I wanted to instill pride back in the United States. The song represents my family, my community and those men and women who have paid the price for the freedoms we all love and enjoy.”