God Bless the U.S.A.

"God Bless the U.S.A."
Single by Lee Greenwood
from the album You've Got a Good Love Comin'
B-side"This Old Bed"
ReleasedMay 21, 1984 (1984-05-21)
RecordedNovember 1983
StudioNashville, Tennessee
Genre
Length3:10 (album & single versions)
5:30 (video version)
LabelMCA Nashville
Songwriter(s)Lee Greenwood[1]
Producer(s)Jerry Crutchfield
Lee Greenwood singles chronology
"Going, Going, Gone"
(1983)
"God Bless the U.S.A."
(1984)
"Fool's Gold"
(1984)
Alternative cover
2001 re-release cover

"God Bless the U.S.A." (also known as "Proud to Be an American"[2][3][4]) is an American patriotic song written and recorded by American country singer Lee Greenwood, and is considered to be his signature song. Released by MCA Nashville on May 21, 1984, it appeared on Greenwood's third album, You've Got a Good Love Comin'. It debuted at number seven on the Billboard Hot Country Singles.

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.[5] "God Bless the U.S.A." gained prominence during the 1988 United States presidential election campaign, when Greenwood performed the song at the 1988 Republican National Convention and at rallies for the Republican nominee, George H.W. Bush.[6][7] The song was also featured in television advertisements for Bush.[8] The song became popular once more during the Gulf War in 1990 and 1991. As a result of its newfound popularity, Greenwood re-recorded the track for his 1992 album American Patriot.

The popularity of the song surged following the September 11 attacks and during the 2003 invasion of Iraq; after the former, the song was re-released as a single and peaked at number 16 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs charts in 2001.[9] A re-recorded version of the song was released in 2003, under the "God Bless the U.S.A. 2003." The song platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)—signifying 1,000,000 units sold—by July 2015.[10] The song experienced further popularity after Donald Trump used it at campaign rallies.

  1. ^ Stephanie Pendergrass (March 13, 2013). "Lee Greenwood Reflects on "God Bless the U.S.A."". CMT. Archived from the original on April 26, 2014.
  2. ^ Rocha, Veronica; Wagner, Meg; Hammond, Elise; Hayes, Mike (July 4, 2019). "Trump's July 4th celebration: Live updates". CNN. Then, the military band played a formal rendition Lee Greenwood's "Proud to Be an American" – one of the President's favorites
  3. ^ Tures, John A. (July 3, 2019). "And I'm proud to be an American | Opinion". pennlive.com. The beginning of Lee Greenwood's classic "Proud to be an American" focuses on being proud to be here in America
  4. ^ Fredericks, Bob (June 14, 2019). "White House tweets photo of Trump hugging Old Glory for Flag Day". New York Post. as the song, "Proud to be an American" by Lee Greenwood played for the cheering crowd
  5. ^ Kastor, Elizabeth (July 20, 1988). "STAYING IN TIME WITH THE REPUBLICANS". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  6. ^ "User Clip: Lee Greenwood God Bless the USA". www.c-span.org. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  7. ^ "User Clip: Lee Greenwood performs at Bush rally in Grand Rapids, MI; Nov. 2, 1988". www.c-span.org. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  8. ^ "The Living Room Candidate - Commercials - 1988 - Bush America". www.livingroomcandidate.org. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  9. ^ "Week of September 29, 2001". billboard. billboard. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  10. ^ Matt Bjorke (July 13, 2015). "The Top 30 Digital Country Singles: July 13, 2015". Roughstock.