Mariah first performed the song “America The Beautiful” on June 5, 1990, before Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Detroit Pistons and the Portland Trail Blazers at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan. “None of the players, none of the fans knew who I was when I walked in,” Mariah explained on her memoir, The Meaning Of Mariah Carey. “But they would remember me when I walked out.” She would later perform the song on Macy's Fourth Of July Spectacular in 2005 and 2013, as well as on the film You Don't Mess With The Zohan. Certain editions of Mariah's 2014 album Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse included a studio version of “America The Beautiful” as a bonus track.
A live version of the song performed by Willie Nelson and other singers and actors including Mariah was released on December 4, 2001, on the America: A Tribute to Heroes CD and DVD.
O beautiful for spacious skies
For amber waves of grain
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain
America, America
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea
From sea to shining sea
From sea to shining sea
Lyrics by Katharine Lee Bates. Music by Samuel A. Ward.
Produced by Mariah Carey and James “Big Jim” Wright.
