Billy Ray Cyrus " I'm American "

William "Billy" Ray Cyrus (born August 25, 1961) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor and philanthropist, who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon. Cyrus, a multi-platinum selling recording artist, has scored a total of eight top-ten singles on the Billboard Country Songs chart. Some Gave All was also the first debut album to enter at the number 1 in the Billboard Country Albums.

"A young soldier stood up and kind of shouted out, 'Keep going, Mr. Cyrus! That moment was what Cyrus, 49, calls the "genesis" of his new album, I'm American, out June 28. Saluting soldiers through his music has become a crucial part of Cyrus' "purpose in life," he says. Initially, Cyrus had no plans beyond re-recording Some Gave All, the title track from his 1992 debut — the same album that launched him into Achy Breaky Heart fame. premiering July 11 (10 p.m. ET/PT), which reunites deployed troops with their families.

As a father, and a well-known one at that (daughter Miley Cyrus is frequent tabloid fodder), Cyrus says seeing what military families give up is "humbling."

"We always had this motto, 'If you ain't happy, it ain't working,''' Cyrus says. ""It was one of those rare moments where the art and what I was doing became very real with where my life was at," says Cyrus, whose current single Runway Lights is the theme song for Surprise Homecoming. After hitting some concert tour stops in July and early August, Cyrus will head to Vancouver to shoot the sequel to his Hallmark Channel movie Christmas in Canaan.