At the time that the song "Never Forget" was written, the song's author, John Ryan had been managing what most people would consider together to be two very unlikely professions.
Since 1980, the 43 year old Melbourne Florida resident had been employed as a full-time Professional Firefighter for the City of Melbourne Florida while also maintaining a career as a professional solo pianist, performing concerts and playing at private clubs throughout Florida.
On September 11, 2001, Ryan’s two unlikely careers came together. “Like most Americans, I was shocked and emotionally impacted by the events of 9/11 and the tragic loss of innocent lives,” says Ryan. “On a personal level, I was especially moved by the loss of so many of my brother firefighters. As a musician and pianist that week, I felt the undeniable feeling of unified grief, respect, and pride fill an otherwise busy room as I would play a slow and solemn arrangement of "America The Beautiful". People would stop what they were doing, listen in silence and then applaud, not for me, but for the song and the moment. I have never in my lifetime ever seen Americans more unified by a single event.”
Sometime during that week of 9/11, Ryan sat at his piano at home and wrote the words and music to a song entitled "Never Forget" as an outlet to vent his own personal emotions. This song sat on a shelf in his closet for nearly a year until one evening, friends and family heard the song and convinced him to record it for the upcoming first anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11. Ryan decided to record it and asked Laurie Broadway, a friend and local schoolteacher if she would sing the vocals for him. She enthusiastically agreed and they recorded the song on Sunday August 25, 2002 at Ryan's recording studio. Laurie, a Rockledge Florida resident who was born and raised in Indialantic Florida, served as band director at Cocoa Beach H.S. from 1986-88 and is currently the band/orchestra director at Jefferson Middle School in Merritt Island. She also plays bass and sings in local acoustic groups in the area.
“I did not want to write a song about the death and destruction or of revenge and hate,” says Ryan. “I was compelled to write a song which would impart a sense of hope and determination in the strength of our unity as Americans.” Over a two-week period, with the incredible support of friends and family, the song came to life and became a reality. “Everyone who heard the song wanted to help in some way,” says Ryan “There is no way I could have accomplished this in such a short amount of time without their help and encouragement.”
The song was released the week of 9/11/02, and uploaded to the Ryan Music website where it was offered as a free download. To everyone's amazement, the song was downloaded over 60,000 times in just four days and received comments and emails from all over the world. It was also enthusiastically received for inclusion in memorial services throughout the country and was featured in newspaper articles, received radio airplay, and was the subject of a local NPR interview and airplay. The song was submitted to the Great American Song Contest 2003 where it became a finalist and received an Honor Award.
In January of 2005, the song was heard by a London record producer, Peter Clayton of Robinwood Productions Ltd. who immediately fell in love with the song and decided to record it. In July of 2005, the song was re-recorded with full orchestra in a professional recording studio in London to be included as one of the titles on the album "Words Alone: The Music and Lyrics of John Ryan", scheduled for release in November of 2005. This time the song was arranged and conducted by Musical Director, Pete Moore and was again performed by Laurie Broadway, backed by the Pete Moore Orchestra. Ironically, the recording sessions fell during the same week of the terrorist bombings of London.
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