In our series of stories behind the song, this one is so symbolic with American liberty that every president and those running for president seek to lean on its message, and writer Lee Greenwood…God Bless The USA.
When singer Lee Greenwood wrote God Bless The USA back in 1983 it was the keeping of promise that he had made to himself.
“I always wanted to write a song like this, a song like Elvis Presley did with his American Trilogy recording,” he’s quoted as saying. “I wanted to write a song like that because it was so inspiring.
“I was working in Las Vegas at the time and I’d sneak into Elvis’s shows and listen to that song…and I said to myself, ‘If I ever get to Nashville I’m going to write a song like Trilogy.'”
Well Greenwood subsequently did get to Nashville in 1981 where he was signed by MCA Records. He toured with the Gatlin Brothers, with Loretta Lynn, and spent his own exhaustive years sitting on tour buses playing off-the-beaten-path gigs between Nashville and all points east and west.
“I was sitting on my bus one night on a trip between Little Rock and someplace in Texas when the song came to me. I had a portable piano that I set on my lap, I put my headsets on so I wouldn’t bother anyone trying to sleep on the bus, and I wrote God Bless The USA.”
Greenwood loved the song, and people that heard him perform it loved it, too…but not commercially.
“I was in Las Vegas on Halloween, 1983, and I got into a limousine and had the driver take me to the home of the president of MCA, in Hollywood. This is on Halloween night, and when I got out of the car he was standing with his three kids on the front porch of his house doing trick or treat. I had the song on a cassette tape and I introduced myself, telling him that I worked on the MCA label back in Nashville. He said he recognized my name, and I handed him the tape and a bottle of champagne, and said, ‘trick or treat’. He asked me in, played the tape, and liked the song. He said, ‘Let’s see what we can do with this.'”
Well they did plenty with it. It was recorded by MCA Records the following spring, on May 21, 1984, and it debuted on Greenwood’s third album, entitled, You’ve Got A Good Love Comin’. It quickly rose to #7 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles, and later that summer the song was included in a film about President Ronald Reagan, the Republican presidential nominee, that was shown at the 1984 Republican National Convention.
That’s what it took to gain traction. It would again get recognition with the 1988 presidential campaign for George H.W. Bush, and got another kick in popularity during the Gulf War of 1990 and ’91. And after the September 11 attacks in 2001 it surged once again, reaching new heights on the Billboard Top 100 chart. Ultimately it was certified by the Recording Industry of America in July of 2015, signifying 1,000,000 copies sold.
In the decade since it’s become Lee Greenwood’s signature anthem, despite his immense commercial success in recording and live performances. Most recently, God Bless The USA again surged when it was featured by Donald Trump at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
“When I said [wrote], ‘I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free,’ I know that resonated with every American who has lost a son or daughter in combat,” Greenwood says in online interviews. ” There’s no other country that’s free like we are.”
And the harmonies of his epic have now, over forty years, struck a chord with nearly every like-minded American…as has appreciation for the mere mention of the name Lee Greenwood.
The story behind the song…God Bless The USA. Please, gladly enjoy the tune’s official video.
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