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"God Bless the USA" is an American patriotic song written and recorded by country music artist Lee Greenwood, and is considered to be his signature song.
Country music is a genre of United States popular music that originated in the Southern United States in the 1920s.
2001 WS Gm4: Lee Greenwood sings "God Bless the USA" by MLB
The first album it appears on is 1984's You've Got a Good Love Comin'.
God Bless the USA - The Texas Tenors by The Texas Tenors
It reached No. 7 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart when originally released in the spring of 1984, and was played at the 1984 Republican National Convention with President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan in attendance, but the song gained greater prominence during the Gulf War in 1990 and 1991, as a way of boosting morale.
The Gulf War, codenamed Operation Desert Shield for operations leading to the buildup of troops and defense of Saudi Arabia and Operation Desert Storm in its combat phase, was a war waged by coalition forces from 35 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.
The 1984 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States convened on August 20 to August 23, 1984, at Dallas Convention Center in downtown Dallas, Texas.
Billboard is an American entertainment media brand owned by the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group, a division of Eldridge Industries.
The popularity of the song rose sharply after the September 11 attacks and during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the song was re-released as a single, re-entering the country music charts at No. 16 and peaking at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart in 2001.
The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq lasted from 20 March to 1 May 2003 and signaled the start of the Iraq War, which was dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom by the United States.
The song was also re-recorded in 2003 and released as "God Bless the USA 2003".
The song also rose up in popularity in May 2011 when Osama bin Laden was killed by an American raid in Pakistan.
Greenwood also wrote a Canadian version of this song called "God Bless You Canada".
The song has sold over a million copies in the United States by July 2015.
