The significance of ‘Amazing Grace’ at Biden Inauguration 2021

© Provided by The LA Times Joe Biden takes the oath of office Wednesday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Following Joe Biden’s inaugural speech as president, country star Garth Brooks took to the stage for a rendition of the old hymn “Amazing Grace.”

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.”

Sporting a cowboy hat, Brooks sang the first two verses of the hymn and then invited the crowd — and viewers at home — to join with him for the repeat of the first verse.

“I once was lost, but now I am found. Was blind, but now I see.”

The words were written in 1772 by John Newton, a former slaveowner who took up the abolitionist movement after converting to Christianity.

Following the song’s conclusion, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) reminded the audience of President Obama’s stirring rendition of the historic tune at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. — the site of a shooting that left several dead in 2015. Obama famously led the hymn for a crowd of about 6,000 following his eulogy for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who was one of nine killed.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.