Lee Greenwood, the country music superstar most famous for his “God Bless the USA,” recently won the Charlie Daniels Patriot Award and, when speaking about the award and his career, credited having lived outside of Hollywood for his family’s holding “real values” and supporting him in a career most can only dream of having.

As background, the Charlie Daniels Patriot Award, named for country star Charlie Daniels, was established by The Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project. It supports veterans, helping them return, rehabilitate, and reintegrate to civilian life.

In any case, Mr. Greenwood spoke about the important issue of family and living in the right spot to Fox News Digital, saying, “When you talk about Hollywood stardom, actors really are acting scripts for someone else, and although they are revered by the public for the roles that they have, the luster of Hollywood kind of rubs off when you get outside of that area. I have been blessed to be able to be raised on a farm where real values count.”

Continuing, he noted that living in the real world in Nevada and Tennessee instead of the woke mecca of Hollywood helped keep his family grounded by surrounding them with people who hold real, American values. He said, “And even after spending 20 years in Nevada, and now 40 years in Tennessee, I am surrounded by people with real values. I think that has helped us as a family.”

Mr, Greenwood then thanked his wife of 30 years, a former Miss Tennessee named Kimberly Payne, for supporting him and keeping him pointed in the right direction, saying, “And, of course, I have to give my wife so much more credit than me because she’s always been the one steadfast and keeps us morally on the correct path and a good moral compass.”

Further, Mr. Greenwood noted that locating his family in such areas away from Hollywood gave him and his wife the ability to teach their two sons, Dalton and Parker, to “have respect for our careers and respect for themselves, and that has helped us bond as a family.” He later added, “Kim has been so good to me, treating me like a king when, in fact, she is the queen. She was a queen when I met her, and in my life, she is my queen as well.”

And, when his sons said that they were proud of him and that he deserved his award, Mr. Greenwood said, “That’s very flattering for them to say that, and we are very close. I can talk man to man to both of our sons, who are now 28 and 25. But for them to say that I deserve it is such an honor for me to receive that kind of dialog from our two sons. And it means a great deal to me.“

Then, speaking about to whom his music is meant to appeal, Mr. Greenwood said, “I think you have to examine the lyrics of my song, ‘God Bless the USA,’ which is a catalyst for people who consider me on one side of the fence or the other. My song represents all Americans, Incidentally, I am a conservative Christian. However, when you talk about the presidents that I have sang for, which are on both sides of the aisle and more than 10 — two times for five different presidents in my presence — I think that the honor that I receive from just being a songwriter is really high cotton.”

Similarly, when pushing back on cancel culture, he said, “To a point, everyone is allowed to express their own opinion, and as an artist, I know that we do represent the culture with the music that we create. But you can’t blame an artist for singing a song or writing a song that expresses a feeling of the fans that they sing for. And if the multitude of fans all agree that that song represents them, then the freedom of expression should be allowed by that artist and not attacked.”