"Let There Be Peace on Earth" is a song written by Jill Jackson-Miller and Sy Miller in 1955. It was initially written for and sung by the International Children's Choir created by Easter Beakly and Arthur Granger of the Granger Dance Academy in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. The song's composers led a number of rehearsals for the children's choir from 1955 to 1957, and the song continues to be the theme for this group of children who represent a host of nations and who sang in Washington, DC at the JW Marriott next to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

in 2002. Jackson-Miller, who had been suicidal after the failure of her marriage to screenwriter

Felix Jackson Felix Jackson (born Felix Joachimson; June 5, 1902 – December 7, 1992) was a German-born American screenwriter and film producer. Biography Jackson was born in Hamburg. He was a city editor in Germany at 21, then a dramatic and music critic, ...

, later said that she wrote the song after discovering what she called the "life-saving joy of

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

's peace and unconditional love."

Overview

The song is performed worldwide throughout the year, and particularly during the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

season, which has led to it being considered a Christmas song. It is included in the hymnals of a variety of Christian denominations, and is used in worship services even by a number of denominations that do not include it in their hymnals. It typically concludes

Unity Church Unity, known informally as Unity Church, is an organization founded by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore in 1889. It grew out of Transcendentalism and became part of the New Thought movement. Unity is known for its '' Daily Word'' devotional publi ...

services each week. The original lyrics for "Let There Be Peace on Earth" have been altered on many occasions for differing reasons, including for gender neutrality (where "father" is replaced with " creator", and "brother" is replaced with "family" or "each other"), and secularity (where " God as our Father" is replaced with " Earth as our Mother" or "love as our compass"). Both the gender-neutral and secular alternate lyrics have been copyrighted by the original licensing agent of the song.

Covers and performances

In 1967,

Mahalia Jackson Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to ...

sang "Let There Be Peace on Earth" at her concert in Berlin. On November 7, 1988, it was performed by the GMA Stars and Personalities along with a small group of children with lighted candles in honor of the Launching of

GMA-7 DZBB-TV, Channel 7 (analog) and Channel 15 (digital), is the flagship TV station of Philippine television network GMA. The station is owned and operated by GMA Network Inc. with its studios are located at the GMA Network Center, EDSA corne ...

's 777-foot

Tower of Power Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. There have been a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted th ...

in Tandang Sora, Quezon City, the tallest man-made structure in the country used for the Towering Power: A Musical Dedication. In 1993, the song was covered by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...

and his daughter Jenny, as the title single for his platinum-selling Christmas album. It is the final song during the holidays each year during the "IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth" firework show at

Epcot Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...

at the

Walt Disney World Resort The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...

in Florida. It previously featured narration by

Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' for 19 years (1962–1981). During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the mo ...

and singing by

Sandi Patti Sandra Faye "Sandi" Patty (born July 12, 1956) is an American Christian music singer, known for her wide soprano vocal range and expressive flexibility. Biography Early life Patty was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, into a family of musician ...

and the

Harlem Boys Choir The Boys Choir of Harlem (also known as the Harlem Boys Choir) was a choir located in Harlem, New York City, United States. Its final performance was in 2007 and the group folded shortly thereafter due to several controversies, including a lar ...

. The song was performed by the

Young People's Chorus of New York City Young People's Chorus of New York City is an internationally acclaimed children's chorus based in New York City. The Young People's Chorus (YPC) provides children of all ethnic, religious and economic backgrounds with a unique program of music e ...

on September 25, 2015, at the close of the Interfaith Prayer Service and Remembrance, presided over by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

, at

Ground Zero In relation to nuclear explosions and other large bombs, ground zero (also called surface zero) is the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation. In the case of an explosion above the ground, ''ground zero'' is the point on the groun ...

in New York. In 2017, Carlos Santana and Ernie/Ronnie Isley released the song on their ''Power of Peace'' album (Sony Music's Legacy Recordings). During the 2015

Christmas and holiday season The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late Novemb ...

, American technology company

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

got dislikes and criticism on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

when it released an advertisement featuring a cover by employees and a New York City children's choir that skipped over the verse "With God as our Father, brothers all are we / Let me walk with my brother, in perfect harmony." In response, the company released a second, longer version that included the omitted verse.Microsoft spreads the spirit of the season on 5th Ave
Youtube. Retrieved August 26, 2016. In 2020,

Ricky Dillard Ricky Rydell Dillard (born February 25, 1965) is an American gospel musician. He started his music career, in 1987, as a Chicago house musician. His first Christian music album was ''Promise'', by Muscle Shoals Records. His next album, ''A Holy ...

released "Let There Be Peace On Earth" as the 4th track on his 11th album, ''Choirmaster''.

References

External links

History of the Song "Let There Be Peace on Earth"Interview with Jill Jackson on Humankind Public Radio by David Freudberg
{{authority control Peace songs 1955 songs Christian songs American Christmas songs American Christian hymns Vince Gill songs