God Bless America (charity album) performed a new arrangement of "God Bless America" on the telethon "". The recorded version of this, done the day before the telethon in the event something happened and Dion could not appear, became the title track of this compilation. It, along with a live acoustic performance by John Mellencamp, were the only tracks on the album not to have been previously released. The selections ranged over many decades, with recordings being used going back to 1945. The span of material was quite large; the album included "This Land Is Your Land", which Woody Guthrie had written in annoyed reaction
God Bless America family, the track's owners. The performance, often not televised, immediately precedes the national anthem. Henderson routinely sang the entire song, including the prologue, and in some years sang the chorus a second time. Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Canadian pop star Celine Dion performed the song on the TV special "". Shortly afterwards on October 16, Sony Music Entertainment released a benefit album called "God Bless America", which featured Dion singing the song. The album debuted at No. 1 on the "Billboard" 200 and became the first charity album to reach the top since USA for Africa's "We Are