Garth wrote the famous song after being in Los Angeles during the 1992 riots, which also happened to be when the Academy of Country Music Awards were being held that year.

In the liner notes from his album The Hits, he shared this background about the song:

"'We Shall Be Free' is definitely and easily the most controversial song I have ever done. A song of love, a song of tolerance from someone who claims not to be a prophet but just an ordinary man. I never thought there would be any problems with this song. Sometimes, the roads we take do not turn out to be the roads we envisioned them to be. All I can say about 'We Shall Be Free' is that I will stand by every line of this song as long as I live. I am very proud of it."

Photo: © Dave Kaup/Reuters/Corbis
 

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