While out on his world tour, which has spanned over three years, Garth Brooks has made history in more ways than one. He recently broke his own record for tickets sold on a single tour by hitting the 5 million mark, and in almost every city, he adds more shows because tickets sell out so quickly, sometimes even performing two shows in one night.
Brooks has noticed that his fans have requested a certain song more and more lately, one that he first released in 1992. Brooks was inspired to write “We Shall Be Free” after being in Los Angeles, California, where the ACM Awards were being held, during the 1992 L.A. Riots.
“The night the riots hit we watched it all on TV on the bus leaving LA. And as you drove out of LA you could see the buildings on fire,” he said on the TV special The Garth Brooks Story. “It was pretty scary for all of us, especially a bunch of guys from Oklahoma. Ya know this is intense out here.”
For the 10th anniversary of the song, Brooks and other celebrities came together to film a music video, but according to PEOPLE, publishing issues arose and it was never released.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the song’s release, Brooks decided it was time for the world to see this powerful video, which includes footage from the 2002 video, as well as new footage. He released the video for the first time on his weekly Inside Studio G Facebook Live session on Monday (March 6).
Celebrities like Michael J. Fox, Forrest Whitaker, Al Gore, Alex Rodriguez, Bono, Trisha Yearwood, Dakota Fanning, Marlee Matlin, John Travolta, Sean Connery, Jay Leno, and Whoopi Goldberg all appeared in the video saying messages of hope.
“People have been requesting ‘We Shall Be Free’ a lot more recently,” Brooks said in the Facebook Live video. “Any time there is turmoil, any time there is division, we are looking for a safe place. This song is telling us, ‘We’ve all got our differences, but instead of letting it separate it, let’s revel in those differences and use them to our advantage as one.’ I truly think that 25 years later, the message has reached its mark.”
Comments flooded in from fans thanking Brooks for releasing such a powerful video to go along with the incredible message “We Shall Be Free” has behind it.
One fan wrote, “All countries have their national anthem. O Canada, Star Spangled Banner… I Think ‘We Shall Be Free’ should be recognized as the ‘Earth’s uniting anthem’, for ALL the people. No matter race, religion, location, preference.”
Watch the moving video below, which starts at around the 2:15 mark.