Lee Greenwood‘s collaboration with Home Free and The United States Air Force Band’s official chorus, the Singing Sergeants, on “God Bless the U.S.A.” has reached a new milestone. The song, which Lee first officially released in 1984, just topped Billboard‘s Digital Song Sales chart, going from No. 50 to No. 1, with more than 15,000 copies sold in the week beginning on July 1.
Lee spoke out about the achievement on social media, noting how timely the song has been for the past 36 years.
I’m always humbled to see how God Bless The USA resonates with the American spirit and love of country. Thank you Proud Americans for using God Bless The USA as you celebrated our wonderful country – it is still the best place on earth! @billboard https://t.co/VEODwlOwWL
— Lee Greenwood (@TheLeeGreenwood) July 14, 2020
“I’m always humbled to see how God Bless The USA resonates with the American spirit and love of country,” Lee wrote. “Thank you Proud Americans for using God Bless The USA as you celebrated our wonderful country – it is still the best place on earth!”
The collaboration, which also landed at No. 7 on the Hot Country Songs Chart, was an unforgettable moment for both Lee and Home Free.
“I’ve watched and admired Home Free with their covers of so many different songs, so many songs that I love, and still do. I admire their vocal talent, that’s first,” Lee told Everything Nash. “And then I knew that they were using ‘God Bless the U.S.A.’ in their shows, and that’s not uncommon. Many of the acts since I wrote it in 1983 have requested it, and have done it so eloquently.”
“It was just very cool to be able to stand back and listen and then add, and then go into the booth and say, ‘Wow, we, we just created that,’” he remarked. “‘Cause I’ve lived with this song for 30 years and I’ve never heard it like that before.”
Home Free was just as eager to sing with Lee, especially on a song as important and timeless as “God Bless the U.S.A.”
“This is a song that Home Free has been doing since Home Free started,” Home Free’s Austin Brown remarked . “Literally we closed every show with this for I think 15 years. It’s only been the last couple of years where we’ve stopped performing it as often, but we always have it in our back pocket. And depending on where we are, what kind of functions we’re doing, how many veterans there may be in the audience, sometimes we’ll pull it out. It’s very close to our heart; that’s why we’ve been singing for so long.
“It’s one of those songs that stands on its own,” he added. “It’s almost like another National Anthem. Everyone knows that. Literally, every single time we sing the song, no matter where we are, everyone stands up in the audience. The song stands on its own.”
The video was also shot with both Lee and Home Free, along with the Singing Sergeants — an experience all the more meaningful because it was filmed in several different locations, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“It really was kind of poignant to show that, no matter where we are, and even if we can’t be in the same room, with technology and the internet these days, and recording technology, we’re able to still come together to create a product, and to create an artistic experience that is really something special,” Austin acknowledged. “And it shows us that, even though we’re so far apart, socially distancing, we can still be together and we can still sow love and hopes together.”
Download “God Bless the U.S.A.” here.
