When Lee Greenwood released “God Bless The USA” in the spring of 1984, “it wasn’t a huge success,” says the 82-year-old country music icon billboard.

The song peaked at number 7 in July 1984 billboardis on the Hot Country Songs chart, but has returned to the chart several times over the decades, including on July 4th weekend, 2020, the first year of the pandemic – when it debuted at No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart .

The anthem's enduring appeal has led to its playing following the September 11 terrorist attacks and the assassination attempt on the former president Donald Trump. It's been covered by Beyoncé and Dolly Parton, and on Friday (November 1), Drew Jacobs released a rock version. And, of course, it's regularly played at political events, including at every Republican National Convention since 1988 — Greenwood sang it live at the last one in July — and now as accompaniment for former President Trump.

“To be honest, it's a dream come true for any artist to have President Trump sing 'USA' as a song when he visits him at every single location,” Greenwood said, adding that he wrote the song for all Americans . “Millions of people listen to my song every week just because President Trump uses it.”

So what is it worth? billboard He talked to Greenwood and crunched the numbers to estimate how much he stands to gain from the Trump rebellion.

STREAMING

Greenwood says he owns the writing and publishing rights to “God Bless The USA” and that Peermusic manages the publishing and synchronization licenses for it and other songs in his catalog.

Greenwood says he never accused the former president, whom he knows through his wife, of using “USA” at rallies Kim Greenwood's work with the Miss Universe Organization. He says he charged it Ronald Reagan In 1988 they had advertised use of the song for $1, but “only because they wanted 'paper on the deal'.”

“I don’t look at money as a driver for my music,” he adds.

Still, “God Bless The USA” made Greenwood some pretty penny this year. The song enjoyed a noticeable increase in consumption, particularly in the immediate weeks following Greenwood's performance at the Republican National Convention.

In the 16 weeks since the RNC, “USA” has averaged over 4,100 song equivalents in the United States, according to Luminate. That's an increase from the roughly 3,000 U.S. song equivalents averaged in the 27 weeks of 2024 leading up to the convention.

This post-convention total includes an average of 568,000 primarily on-demand audio streams in the U.S., compared to 468,000 in the weeks leading up to the convention.

Compared to Greenwood's “USA,” Sam & Dave's “Hold On I'm Coming” had a smaller average increase. This song is currently the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit filed in August by the estate of Isaac Hayes, the song's co-author. The complaint alleges that the song was used at rallies without authorization on multiple occasions.

“Hold On I'm Coming” averaged over 5,200 song equivalents in the U.S. since the RNC, just slightly more than the 5,000 U.S. song equivalents in the 27 weeks leading up to the convention.

Looking at U.S. streaming and download revenue for the songs, the master recording rights for “Hold On” generated more post-convention revenue overall than “USA” – an average of $4,613.81 per week, compared to the equivalent of $3,337.24.

However, the premium for the master recording rights of the songs was greater for “USA” than for “Hold On”. The master recording rights for Greenwood's signature song have grossed an average of $744 more per week since the convention, compared to $148 for “Hold On.”

That adds up to an estimated Trump raise of nearly $12,000 additional from master recordings of the song over the past 16 weeks. These calculations are based on the label's revenue, and Greenwood's share of this figure depends on his contract, the details of which are not known.

On the publishing side, Greenwood songs earned an average of about $675 per week from streams and downloads in the U.S. in the 27 weeks leading up to the convention, and $845 per week afterward. This means that the song averaged $3,267 per week leading up to the convention (master recordings and release combined), and $4,182 per week post-convention.

billboard Greenwood's U.S. master recording catalog revenue (excluding releases) is estimated to have brought his label $219,000 so far this year, compared to nearly $184,000 in 2023 – a Trump gain of about $35,000 year to date .

THE TRUMP… INCIDENCE?

Not all songs used at Trump events enjoyed the same post-rally glow. “My Hero” by the Foo Fighters was played as an introduction Robert Kennedy Jr. According to the band, at an August rally for the former president in Arizona without permission. At the time, a Foo Fighters spokesman said any royalties earned from playing the song after the rally would be donated to Trump's challenger, the vice president Kamala Harris' campaign. (A spokesperson for the band did not respond to a request for comment for this story.)

Since “My Hero” was played at the rally, it has lost popularity, according to Luminate. Prior to the convention, the song's streams and downloads averaged nearly $10,100 in weekly master recording sales in the United States. But after the band denounced the Trump campaign's use of the song, the number of average weekly plays on the audio streams fell by nearly 200,000, from 1.668 million to 1.488 million. As a result, sales, which had averaged nearly $10,100 per week, fell to just under $9,200 per week, a weekly decrease of about $900.