‘God Bless the USA’ singer said it was important to raise his kids outside Hollywood
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Lee Greenwood, the country music star, spoke to Fox News in an interview after he was awarded the Charlie Daniels Patriots Award. He talked about what it was like to raise his family and what he values.
This award is given to individuals who “support veterans in their return, rehabilitation and reintegration back into civilian life,” according to the award’s website.
Greenwood said that he has helped veterans by building them homes. “I have a project out of Houston, Texas, called Helping A Hero and we build homes for wounded warriors. That’s my way of serving because I didn’t serve in the military in uniform,” he said, per Newsbreak.
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In his interview with Fox, Greenwood opened up about his decision to raise his family outside of Hollywood. This allowed him and his wife Kimberly Payne to teach their children to “have respect for our careers and respect for themselves, and that has helped us bond as a family,” Greenwood told Fox News.
The “God Bless the USA” singer credited his wife with helping his family develop values.
“And, of course, I have to give my wife so much more credit than me because she’s always been the one steadfast and keeps us morally on the correct path and a good moral compass,” Greenwood told Fox News.
The country artist also talked about his Grammy nominated song “God Bless the USA.” Greenwood told Fox News the anthem “represents all Americans.”
“Incidentally, I am a conservative Christian. However, when you talk about the presidents that I have sang for, which are on both sides of the aisle and more than 10 — two times for five different presidents in my presence — I think that the honor I receive from just being a songwriter is really high cotton,” Greenwood told Fox News.
Greenwood’s decision to write the song came after he saw military veterans at his concert and was inspired by them.
“I wanted to put God first, because I’m a conservative Christian, and I wanted to make sure that God was honored in the song,” Greenwood told NPR in 2018.
After the song’s debut, it was played at the Republican National Convention in 1984, where it developed an association with Ronald Reagan, according to NPR. Since then, it’s become part of the regular rotation of political events.
Greenwood was also appointed to the National Council of Arts by George W. Bush in 2008. He would serve on that council under multiple presidents, including Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, until 2022.
When NPR asked Greenwood about partisan reactions to the song, “Greenwood says he wishes it weren’t so, and that he’s proud to have sung the song for five presidents.”
While the song has developed an association with Republican campaign events, he didn’t intend for the song to be partisan. Greenwood said he intended for the song to be unifying. “I meant that the nation would kind of ‘kumbaya’ — gather arms and let’s love each other.”
