Five For Fighting Closes Summer Tour with Unforgettable Tarrytown Show

We are shedding a spotlight on Grammy-nominated, platinum selling artist John Ondrasik, aka Five For Fighting. We've had John on for Townsquare Spotlights on the phone, on a video call, and now, we get to speak to him in person. I got to hang with John backstage at his show at Tarrytown Music Hall.

Five For Fighting's Final Summer Concert at Tarrytown Music Hall

Grammy® nominated, platinum-selling artist, Five For Fighting (aka John Ondrasik) hit the road this July and August, bringing along his band, drummer Randy Cooke (Mick Jagger, Ringo Starr, Dave Stewart), bassist Sean Hurley (John Mayer, Ringo Starr, Alanis Morissette), and guitarist Peter Thorn (Chris Cornell, Melissa Etheridge, Don Henley), and played the songs his fans have loved for over two decades along with his recent viral sensations. Five For Fighting's stop in Tarrytown was the last show on their summer tour.

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As someone who has been listening to Five For Fighting's music pretty much all my life, this was such a surreal moment. I knew and sang along to every song! Before John took the stage, we enjoyed the opening act, Kieran Rhodes. He had a lot of amazing songs with really witty and impactful lyrics. Not to mention, his piano playing was spectacular! Hailing from Upstate New York, Kieran was on track to play serious college baseball when he discovered a love for music in high school. He is most recently known for his viral audition on season 17 of America's Got Talent. Kieran won the hearts of millions around the world with his original song, 'Disengage' which chronicles a struggle with depression.

Being that it was the last show of the summer tour, Five For Fighting left it all on the table! Besides playing all the hits, they did covers of "Rocket Man" by Elton John and ""Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, whom John has mentioned are major iNFLuences for him. Heck, he even covered the Peanuts theme! Not just that, but they did an extra special rendition of their song "I Just Love You." John explained how he wrote it with his then 4-year-old daughter. Well, she's 23 now, and she joined her dad onstage to duet the song together.

And I'll admit, I got quite emotional while listening to tracks like "Chances," "100 Years," and the closer, "Superman (It's Not Easy)." You could tell the band was having a blast, and so was the audience.

(We Are Not) OK

As much as the show was fun, John wanted to use his platform to support issues that he is close to. He explained how they always do a song to honor our troops, so they did "Freedom Never Cries." They also did "Can One Man Save The World?" with images of the Ukrainian war in the background.

The mood changed slightly when John was introducing his song "OK," which he wrote about condemning the October 7th Hamas attacks. A few people starting yelling at him from the crowd, and a few people even walked out altogether. John tried to settle the crowd saying that it's okay for us to express our freedom of speech. He said his songs and his views are not political, rather, human and moral. He said whether you're Israeli or Palestinian, Jewish or Muslim, he's looking after the innocents who are getting mixed up in the coNFLict. He wants to use his platform to help the hostages, hostage families, the injured, and the refugees. He talked about his experiences working with charities and organizations to help reunite families on both sides of the coNFLict and to protect as many civilian refugees as possible. John explained how we are lucky in America to have the freedoms that we have because he's seen innocent lives ruined by terrorism and political greed from all sides.

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Ondrasik’s passion for supporting humanitarian efforts and freedom has been a longstanding commitment for the artist as well. Recently, he’s been taking a non-political stance on key events around the world, writing songs from a humanistic perspective. He recently released “OK (We Are Not Ok)” in response to the October 7th Hamas attacks in Israel, while addressing the cultural aftermath both in America and around the world - watch the video HERE. Unfortunately, we cannot play the true music video here because of "age-restricted content" and "disturbing images," hence why we had to link it, but you can still check out the audio below, as well.

Michael Ramirez, two-time Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, drew the single cover image.  Hours before Iran's missile attack on Israel on April 13, Ondrasik performed “OK (We Are Not Ok)” " in Tel Aviv.  The singer/songwriter also performed his 9-11 anthem song, "Superman (It’s Not Easy).”  Watch the performance and listen to his comments HERE.  Ondrasik has been one of the few in the Entertainment industry who has spoken up after the October 7th, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel – read  The Wall Street Journal story  "A Lone Voice Sings for Israel" HERE.

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Ondrasik penned the track for “OK (We Are Not Ok)” in the same vein as his previous songs, "Blood On My Hands", about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan; and "Can One Man Save The World?", which was recorded in Kyiv in support of Ukraine.  Says’ Ondrasik, “’OK (We Are Not Ok)’ is not a political message, but a moral one. A call to action.”

Five For Fighting Over the Years

To date, Five For Fighting, has released six studio albums, including the platinum certified America Town and The Battle for Everything; and the top-10 charting Two Lights, along with an EP and live albums. Ondrasik has penned major hits, including the chart-topping “100 Years,” “The Riddle,” “Chances,” “World,” and “Easy Tonight,” which have earned tens of millions of streams and place him as a top-10 Hot Adult Contemporary artist for the 2000s.

The reflective “100 Years” has joined “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” as part of the American Songbook and continues to stand the test of time at weddings, birthdays, graduations, memorials, and many a home video. Five For Fighting’s music has also been featured in more than 350 films, television shows, and commercials, including the Oscar-winning The Blind Side, Hawaii Five-O, The Sopranos and the CBS drama, Code Black.

Music Matters Challenge

Tying in with "Music In Our Schools Month," Ondrasik teamed up with The Tullman Family Office, through its operational philanthropic wing Tullman Community Ventures, for the “Music Matters Challenge.” The national online music challenge asks Americans to create an original rendition of the song “Let Music Fill My World,” a song recorded and written by Five For Fighting’s John Ondrasik and students of the Farragut Career Academy in Chicago, Illinois; while sharing their own story of a time where music greatly impacted them, changed their life, or moved them to where they remember that story today.   The challenge is designed to spotlight the magic of music and bring awareness to the generational impact of removing music from schools.  The Grand Prize winners will be announced on May 31.  More information can be found HERE.

Previous Five For Fighting Townsquare Spotlights

His albums Slice and Bookmarks are two of my favorite albums ever, and "Superman (It's Not Easy) is my favorite song of all time. I was a Superman fan from a young age, so naturally, the song resonated with me because of that. My dad would rock me to sleep to the song most nights. I'll forever connect the song with my dad and I growing up. Over the years, the song has taken many forms for me, and it has gotten me through some hard times.

Townsquare Spotlight w/ Returning Guest John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting

Hence why it was an honor to speak with John Ondrasik. We get even more time to talk to each other compared to last time, so we dive in deeper into the work that he does to support the US Troops, support struggling and disparaged Jewish communities, and how he uses his platform to share a moral, human message.