Legendary crooner Pat Boone returns to Billboard charts with anthem of hope for Africa’s water crisis
At 90 years old, legendary crooner Pat Boone has nothing to prove.
With over 45 million records sold, six No. 1 Billboard hits, 29 Hollywood films and three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Boone's legacy as an entertainer is secure.
But today, the outspoken Christian, a staple at Billy Graham's evangelistic events throughout the 1980s, is taking center stage for a different reason: clean water.
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Boone has rallied some of the biggest names in country music — Alabama, Vince Gill, Billy Dean, Pam Tillis, Lee Greenwood, Wendy Moten and more — for a powerful new anthem titled "ONE – Voices for Tanzania." Released just ahead of World Water Day on March 22, the song has already landed a spot on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.
In an exclusive interview with The Christian Post, Boone said his passion for mission work began over a decade ago when he and his late wife, Shirley, partnered with GodTV for an initiative called "Cape Town to Cairo."
"The goal was to drill fresh water wells in these desolate areas in the 40 nations of Africa," the singer recalled.
That partnership led Boone to Tanzania, where he witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of contaminated water — women trekking miles across desert terrain to retrieve water from polluted ditches shared by livestock.
"They don't know it," Boone said, "and they take the water back to the children and poison them unintentionally with the water."
During that visit, the "April Love" star and his wife launched the Pat and Shirley Boone Family Life Center, complete with a deep-water well, solar-powered windmill and a small school in the heart of the desert.
The Muslim-led Tanzanian government offered them land in exchange for the well, making it a rare partnership built not on religious conversion but on humanitarian need.
"The tribes there sang for me. They didn't know who I was," Boone said. "They just knew somebody from America had come in and was bringing them water."
As Boone's involvement in East Africa deepened, he joined forces with WorldServe International, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing the water crisis. They learned of a song he had written — "One."
"They said, 'Can we use this song as a fundraiser? Because people just don't know about this problem,'" the artist recalled.
Boone agreed, and what followed was a groundswell of musical support from artists eager to lend their voices to the cause. "My country music entertainers, they always come. When there's a desperate need, they always come to the fore and help."
The track, produced by Jimmy Nichols and Frank Myers, was recorded with an intentional, anthemic sound, Boone shared.
"We purposely recorded it to sound like a Neil Diamond anthem," he explained. "And I tried to get to Neil. … But he is slipping away now into the twilight with Alzheimer's."
In addition to the superstar roster, "ONE" features the Legacy Mission Village Singers, naturalized American citizens originally from Tanzania and neighboring countries, singing Boone's lyrics in Swahili.
"It's so goose bumpy," Boone said. "They are helping raise water for their own people in this song."
Already, "ONE" is resonating with listeners. Boone said the song hit no. 1 on the Adult Contemporary "most added" song list, beating out the likes of Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Jelly Roll and others.
"This song is reaching millions of people on all the music servers," he said, adding: "We're calling it like the 'We Are the World' thing. We're calling it 'We Are the Well.'"
Boone, a Gospel Music Hall of Fame member, said his vision is to inspire families, especially mothers and children, to visit onefortanzania.org, where even a 50-cent donation can make a difference.
"It can be children helping other children to live past the age of 5, and that's it. That's what we're doing."
He cited the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:42: "If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones … that person will certainly not lose their reward."
"It's God Himself, Jesus Himself, promising a blessing," he said.
Boone's music career has always been entwined with his Christian faith. But this project, he says, embodies that calling in an urgent way.
"Jesus said, 'If any man is going to follow me …' It gets back to do we want to follow Jesus?" he said. "In my oneness, there is courage, there is purpose, there is honor. Like no other on this planet, I am one."
That message of the value of each human life is at the core of both the song and the mission.
"We are a divided country," Boone said. "Fewer than 50% of Americans even go to a place of worship … and if they pray, they're not sure anybody's listening."
And the response has been growing, he revealed.
"A number of very important entertainers have approached me. … 'Why am I not on this? Why didn't you contact me?'" Boone said, adding: "Maybe we'll do a volume two."
Though Boone wrote "ONE" years ago, he emphasized that its current impact was not caused by accident.
"I didn't know any of this was going to happen when I wrote the song, but God did," he said. "So I feel like it's definitely, without question, a God thing."
"We see the St. Jude's and Shriners commercials, and it tugs at our hearts. Well, these children … who have a five-year life expectancy … are calling to us," the musician said. "We want to activate people, and that's what drives me, why I feel really so enthused about it."
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
