The success of the song “God Bless the USA” doesn’t surprise its singer and songwriter, Lee Greenwood, who is part of the 60th Presidential Inauguration Weekend musical lineup.
“What’s coming is more people who understand what it means to be an American and a patriot,” Greenwood told The Epoch Times, referring to the upcoming Trump presidency. “And if people are going to use my song to endorse that, then I’m excited about it.”
This will be the third time that Greenwood, 82, has been tapped to sing at a presidential inauguration.
The country music star sang at Trump’s first inauguration in 2016 and for George H. W. Bush at the Lincoln Memorial in 1989.
“It is exciting,” Greenwood said. “Here we are in a somewhat divisional state, and we need a president to unite us again like we have always hoped for. I believe President Trump is the man for that job.”
He is confident Trump will be a leader and advocate for peace.
“I know that he has to have international interests at heart, protecting our allies and he will do his very best to make peace around the world and to protect our borders and make our country great.”
“God Bless the U.S.A.” was first released in 1984 and rose to national prominence when Greenwood performed it at the 1988 Republican National Convention. At the time, Ronald Reagan was the presidential nominee.
According to Greenwood, the song became a cultural phenomenon because it resonates with anyone who has been down and out.
“I’ve been down,” he said. “There was a time when I was in California and starving and was down to my last two dollars and had to work my way back to success. Everybody’s been there.”
Greenwood married former Miss Tennessee USA Kimberly Payne in 1992, and they had two sons. He has four other children from previous marriages.
Exhilaration is what Greenwood expects to feel when he returns to singing for Trump and his supporters.
“It is the appreciation and joy of the crowd that lifts me up,” he said. “I just love making people excited. I love people applauding, smiling, and raising their hands in jubilation.”
Greenwood, who won a Grammy for best male country vocal performance in 1984, will sing during Trump’s swearing-in ceremony. He'll perform after eight-time Grammy Award winner and country music star Carrie Underwood’s rendition of “America the Beautiful” and Christopher Macchio singing the “National Anthem.”
He previously performed with Underwood live on stage at the Country Music Association Awards (CMA).
Raised in the Baptist faith, Greenwood attributes his success as an entertainer to hard work and daily prayer.
“My wife and I go to church regularly here in Brentwood, Tennessee,” he said. “We have a prayer team basically that we talk with every morning. Other than that, my feet are solidly on the ground and I trust the decisions that I make are given credence by Jesus Christ and God.”
