Lee Greenwood

Melvin Lee Greenwood (born October 27, 1942) is an American country music singer. Active since 1962, he won a Grammy Award and has had 33 singles chart on the Hot Country Songs with seven singles reaching No. 1. He has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide.

Greenwood is known for his signature song "God Bless the U.S.A.”, which was originally released in the spring of 1984 and became a popular song. In the summer of 1984, it was included in a film about President Ronald Reagan, the Republican presidential nominee and incumbent, which was shown at the 1984 Republican National Convention. "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. The song was also featured in television advertisements for Bush. It later became popular again during the Gulf War, after the September 11 attacks (becoming his highest charting pop hit and reaching No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100), and during the 2016, 2020 and 2024 United States presidential elections as Donald Trump's rally introduction track.

His seven number-ones on the U.S. Hot Country Songs list in his career are "Somebody's Gonna Love You", "Going, Going, Gone", "Dixie Road", "I Don't Mind the Thorns (If You're the Rose)", "Don't Underestimate My Love For You", "Hearts Aren't Made to Break (They're Made to Love)", and "Mornin' Ride". His 1983 single "I.O.U." was also a top-five hit on the adult contemporary charts, and a No. 53 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Greenwood was born in 1942 in South Gate, California, adjacent to Los Angeles. He has German, English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. His father joined the U.S. Navy after the bombing of Pearl Harbor; his mother was a piano player who had several jobs. After his parents separated, he grew up in Sacramento on the farm of his maternal grandparents. At the age of seven, he started singing in church.

Greenwood did not serve in the United States military, despite there being a universal draft at the time. He has said that he was given a 3A deferment for family hardship due to becoming a father at 17. He eloped to Reno, Nevada with his first wife, Edna, in 1960.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.