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By: Lee Greenwood (born October 27, 1942 in South Gate, California).
After his parents separated, Greenwood grew up in Sacramento, California with his grandparents on a poultry farm. At seven years old, he began playing saxophone, and at nine years old became a member of a dance ensemble.
He founded his first band, Apollo, in 1962, which changed its name later to the Lee Greenwood Affair. They appeared mostly in casinos in Las Vegas. They recorded a few records, but broke up in the 1970s. Greenwood began working days as a blackjack dealer, and sang at night.
In 1979, he was discovered Larry McFaden, bandleader and bassist for Mel Tillis. Greenwood was signed in 1981 by MCA, and McFaden became his manager. His first single, "It Turns Me Inside Out", was written by Greenwood for Kenny Rogers, but Rogers turned it down due to the sheer volume of songs he had been offered at the time.
Greenwood is best known for the patriotic anthem "God Bless the USA".
It gained renewed popularity during Operation: Desert Storm in 1991, and has became even more popular following the September 11, 2001 attacks. It reentered the Top 20 of the pop, country, and adult contemporary charts in late 2001.
Chart position (1984): #7 (US Country), #26 (US Adult Contemporary).
Chart position (2001 re-release): #16 (US), #16 (US Country), #12 (US Adult Contemporary).
Written by: Lee Greenwood.
Greenwood: "[I had] wanted to write it my whole life. When I got to that point, we were doing 300 days a year on the road, and we were on our fourth or fifth album on MCA. I called my producer, and I said I have a need to do this. I've always wanted to write a song about America, and I said we just need to be more united.
Also by: Beyoncé Knowles.
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Hi There, Thanks for coming to my blog. Come back anytime... "God Bless the USA" is also one of my favorites. Lee Greenwood sang it at the Sugar Bowl one year when my team (Tennessee Volunteers) was playing. You should have heard the crowd erupt when he sang the word TENNESSEE.... ha ha
ReplyDeleteHave a great day--and your are welcome to visit anytime.
Betsy