ybvdadminuser(RNS) — Just before President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office on Monday (Jan. 20), country singer Lee Greenwood will join the United States Marine Band for a familiar song—“God Bless the USA,” his 1984 hit that’s become a patriotic anthem and a MAGA theme song.
And most of the world will be watching.
This doesn’t bother Greenwood, who has performed at previous inaugurations.
“There are billions of people watching, but I don’t focus on that,” Greenwood told RNS. “I focus on the moment, and where we are at the Capital, and this moment in history.”
The Trump era has been a boom-time for the 81-year-old Greenwood, with the once and future president featuring “God Bless the USA” during his campaign rallies and endorsing a Bible edition inspired by Greenwood’s hit song—including one specifically printed for the inauguration.
In a video interview from his home in Franklin, Tennessee, Greenwood, who is a member of a Baptist megachurch in the Nashville suburbs, said his hit song is a reminder of the role that Christianity has long played in American life.
“I still think we’re a Christian nation,” he said. “We have to remember our roots. We came here not to escape religion. We came to bring faith with us.”
A self-described Reagan Republican who long performed on USO tours for the military — including a 1987 tour with Bob Hope — Greenwood credits the long success of “God Bless the USA” to its combination of patriotic themes and its connection to human struggles. The song begins by recognizing those struggles, said Greenwood.
“The first line of my song resonates with people who have been in the struggles of life,” he said. “‘If tomorrow all the things were gone, I’d worked for all my life.’ Are you kidding? We’ve all been there. We’ve all been down.”
During the interview, Greenwood mixed his politics in with his faith. A native Californian who was born in Los Angeles, Greenwood said he has great empathy for victims of wildfires there but blames the disaster on what he said were the failures of California public officials. While he’s proud that “God Bless the USA” has long been used at naturalization ceremonies for new American citizens, he’s critical of the country’s current immigration policies.
“I think we should build the wall,” he said. “I think we know that we need to know who’s coming in the country. We have to be a sovereign nation.”
At the same time, he understands why people from all over the world have immigrated to the United States and is glad his song is part of welcoming new citizens. It’s a song, he said, that transcends partisanship in embracing the American dream. He recounted with delight singing “God Bless the USA” with new citizens, some of whom sang in their native language.
“It’s fun to see people do that and how much they embrace the American ideal of freedom,” he said.
Greenwood is unapologetic about the “God Bless the USA Bible,” which has made headlines and caused controversy since first debuting in 2021. That patriotic Bible, which includes text from the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the lyrics to the chorus of Greenwood’s song, came back in the public eye this past spring, after Donald Trump signed on as a paid endorser.
Holding a leather-bound copy of the “God Bless the USA Bible,” Greenwood defended it, noting that there are many different themed versions of the Christian Scriptures in stores, and this is just one more. He said that Trump saw the themed Bible as a way to reach the Christian community. The Bible comes in a number of editions, including one that commemorates the failed assassination attempt of Trump from this summer and a $1,000 edition signed by the president-elect.
“I’m proud of him for saying he was a Christian and he believes in faith,” Greenwood said, adding that he hopes that Trump will help America “settle down” after years of polarization and division. Greenwood said he plans to take part in a number of inauguration-related events, including a MAGA rally on Sunday night (Jan. 19).
He said that politicians have long been attracted to patriotic songs that reference faith, like “God Bless America” and “America the Beautiful,” which country star Carrie Underwood will sing at next week’s inauguration. That’s even been the case in Canada, he said — Greenwood once recorded a remake of his hit song called “God Bless You Canada.”
Greenwood, who plans to go back on the road after the inauguration, said “God Bless the USA”— which was inspired by Elvis’ “American Trilogy” of patriotic songs — will likely remain popular even after the Trump era is over.
