Lee Greenwood is set to release a new song co-written by Ronald Reagan
EXCLUSIVE – Lee Greenwood and Sara Evans release new songs with surprise songwriter, the late President Ronald Reagan.
Reagan may have been busy running for president and finishing his term as California governor in the 1970s, but he found time to record a few patriotic songs with producer Mike Curb, founder and chairman of Curb. Notes.
Curb said he met Reagan in 1974, his last year as governor, at an event for Junior Achievement, a charity that teaches students about free enterprise. The two agreed, and Reagan asked the composer if he wanted to help him with his presidential campaign.
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Curb credits California’s brutal traffic for giving him and Reagan plenty of time to write songs together in the ’70s, starting with “Together, A New Beginning.”
“There’s so much traffic in California in the ’70s that I used to travel with them,” Curb said. Fox News Digital. “And a few times we wrote songs together. One of them was the theme of a convention in 1980. It was called ‘Together, A New Beginning’… several recording artists came to the convention. It was in Detroit that year… Then at the convention he the song was sung.”
During Ronald Reagan’s presidential candidacy. (Getty Images)
Reagan lost the 1976 Republican nomination to Gerald Ford, but Curb said he channeled his frustration into writing more music.
“Then, after we lost the election in ’76, we wrote a song called ‘God’s Got a Bigger Plan,'” Curb said. “She was a little down and didn’t think she was going to run again. I said to her, ‘God has a greater plan.’ She said, ‘Oh, Nancy says so,’ and we wrote a song called ‘God as a Greater Plan.’ . And then we wrote the third song, “We Can Start Again” lyrics.
Many years later, producer Mark Joseph played it for Lee Greenwood, who decided to fix it and change it to “Let’s Start the World Again”.
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Greenwood recalled that memorable conversation.
“He said, ‘Ronald Reagan and Mike Curb tried to write a song,'” Greenwood told Fox News Digital. “And he sent it to me and said, ‘It’s not really—it wasn’t finished at all.’ The idea was to turn the world upside down, and how naive it is, but what a great idea.”
“And I knew it Ronald Reagan I knew Mike Curb really well – I was on his label for a while and that gave me the chance to cover the song,” Greenwood continued. “And I sang the song again for them, and they loved it. I’ve recorded a version and it should be out on their ‘Reagan’ aftermarket album shortly.”
Dennis Quaid as Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office. (Noah “Nanea” Hamilton/Rawhide Pictures)
Greenwood wrote the new song, but said he kept some specific lyrics, including the phrase “beacon of freedom.”
“I’m proud to be an American” singer said about it From Tennessee he mixed Reagan’s “altruism” and Curb’s “visionary” tendencies, combining the song with his desire to reimagine Reagan’s awareness of his legacy and the many conversations they had about “how much he believed in the United States as the greatest icon.” in the world for freedom.”
“These songs remind many generations of the ‘good old days’ in American society,” Curb said of the song. “An honest reflection of what Reagan was as a fun and centrist, responsible, good and fair, approachable person.”
When asked if he was surprised by Reagan’s songwriting prowess, Curb noted that before Reagan entered politics, he spent years as a Hollywood star. During his career, Reagan starred in or appeared in more than 50 films. He was the subject of the 2024 biopic “Reagan,” starring Dennis Quaid as the 40th president.
Singer and songwriter Lee Greenwood. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“He was an amazing guy,” Curb said. “Because, you know, when you sat in the backseat with him, it was like sitting next door to your neighbor. Very down to earth. I think all my friends, whether they’re Republicans or Democrats, look back on Reagan as kind of the good old days.”
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“Start the World Over Again” will be released soon, and country singer Sara Evans will release a recording of “God Has a Greater Plan.”
Fox News Digital’s Hannah Lambert contributed to this report.
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