Last night several of Nashville’s finest CCM artists loaned their talents to a mass project along the lines of “We Are the World” and “Do Something Now.”
Amy Grant, Jaci Valesquez, Jars of Clay, True Vibe, ZOEgirl, The Oak Ridge Boys, Avalon, and Vince Gill were among the artists who sang “America the Beautiful” in a mass choir at Nashville’s Scene Three studios on Franklin Pike.
The star-studded recording is to be part of a 225th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence celebratory event spearheaded by television producer Norman Lear and to be held July 4 in the historical city of Philadelphia. The event is to be televised live on the ABC Television Network.
The list of artists who took part in the recording include: Alabama (Randy Owen), Amanda Wilson, Amy Grant, Anointed, Avalon, Billy Dean, BR549, Brenda Lee, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Chalee Tennison, Clark Family Experience, Coley McCabe, Collin Raye, Darryl Worley, Dean Miller, Holly Williams, Jamie O’Neal, John Berry, Keith Urban, Kenny Rogers, Little Big Town, Lonestar, Lyle Lovett, Marshall Dyllon, Mike Walker, Oak Ridge Boys, Phil Vassar, Sherrie Austin, Suzy Bogguss, The Carol Lee Singers, Toby Keith, Trace Adkins, Vince Gill, Warren Brothers and ZoeGirl.
Amy Grant was the only artist present who was also part of the last Christian mass choir to do something similar when Compassion International put together the massive “Do Something Now” project in 1985. Kenny Rogers was the lone representative of the original “We Are the World” choir.
“America the Beautiful” will be part of an impressive Independence Day event that is being planned in Philadelphia by well-known TV producer Norman Lear. Lear, best known for his work as producer of such TV hits as “All in the Family,” “One Day at a Time,” “Maude” and “Sanford and Son,” and a business partner purchased the last known privately owned copy of the Declaration of Independence earlier this year for $8 million. The acquisition of the historical treasure inspired in Lear a keen interest in our nation’s early history.
Lear’s copy is now the centerpiece of a huge Fourth of July celebration in Philadelphia that will include a reading of the Declaration of Independence by a diverse selection of actors such as Mel Gibson, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The event also includes musical performances by performers such as Garth Brooks.
More information regarding the event is scheduled to be unveiled at a major press announcement on the morning of July 3rd at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.
ABC’s Good Morning America was also at the recording of “America, the Beautiful” and taped
exclusive footage documenting the historical event. Vocalists Dan Haseltine and Jaci Velasquez
were two recording artists singled out to complete individual interviews for the feature, which is
slated to broadcast July 4.
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