Five for Fighting

Infobox musical artist
Name = Five For Fighting
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Img_size =
Landscape = yes
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = John Ondrasik
Alias = Five for Fighting
Born = birth date and age|1968|1|7
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Instrument = vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica
Genre = Piano rock
Pop rock
Occupation = Singer-songwriter, musician
Years_active = 1997–present
Label = Sony BMG
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.fiveforfighting.com FiveForFighting.com]
Notable_instruments =

Five for Fighting is the stage name of American singer-songwriter John Ondrasik. His 2000 album "America Town" went platinum in the U.S. largely due to the success of the song "Superman (It's Not Easy)" following the September 11 attacks in 2001. The 2004 album "The Battle for Everything" has also enjoyed chart success in the United States. Ondrasik has also released a DualDisc of his 2004 album which has one side containing "The Battle for Everything" in its entirety and the other side being a DVD containing bonus footage and the "100 Years" music video. Five for Fighting's fourth album, "Two Lights", was released on August 1, 2006.

Early years

John Ondrasik was born on January 7, 1968 in Los Angeles, a child of a musical family. In his early years Ondrasik learned the piano. As a teenager, he learned how to play the guitar and started to write music. While he also learned to sing opera briefly, he quickly decided that he would like to be a singer/songwriter. Ondrasik went to college at UCLA and graduated with a degree in applied science and mathematics continuing to pursue music in his spare time. He adopted the name "Five for Fighting," which is an expression in ice hockey when a player receives a five-minute penalty for fighting.

Career

Ondrasik's first album "Message for Albert" was released by EMI in 1997. Capitol Records re-released this album after the success of "America Town".

In 2000, Five For Fighting signed with Columbia Records and released "America Town" on September 26, 2000. The album made little impact, but "Superman (It's Not Easy)" became an anthem after the September 11 attacks due in part to MTV's limited playlist of only 11 videos following the tragedy. Ondrasik would perform the song at The Concert for New York City in late 2001, with Adam Levine from Maroon 5 providing backup vocals. Five for Fighting contributed a live performance version of his song "Superman" to the charity album "Live in the X Lounge IV". While "America Town" failed to make the top 50 of the Billboard 200 album charts, its consistent sales eventually led to its going platinum.

His third album, "The Battle for Everything", debuted at number 20 on the Billboard 200 in February 2004. Two years later the album "Two Lights" was released; this became his first career Top 10 album, debuting at #8 on the Billboard 200 in August 2006. Its first single "The Riddle" became Ondrasik's third career Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #40. A video of the second single, "World", has been used to raise funds for various charities (see "Philanthropy", below).

Philanthropy

In the spring of 2007, Ondrasik created the first video charity website. [http://whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/] The website allows fans to upload videos answering the central question, "What Kind of World do You Want?" (taken from his hit song, "World"). The charities the site raises money for are: Augie's Quest, [http://www.augiesquest.org]
Autism Speaks, [http://www.autismspeaks.org] Fisher House Foundation, [http://www.fisherhouse.org] Save the Children, [http://www.savethechildren.org] Operation Homefront [http://www.operationhomefront.net] and several other charities and foundations.

Ondrasik, under the auspices of the USO, performed for service members on a USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour of Guantanamo Bay and other bases in Cuba in February/March 2007. He followed up with another USO tour in November 2007 of Japan, Guam and Hawaii. "I am struck by the sacrifices the troops and their families make for our way of life and I felt was important to show my support," says Ondrasik.

In November 2007, Ondrasik coordinated the release of 13 free songs for US military members called "CD for the Troops". Ondrasik worked with AAFES to deliver more than 200,000 CDs to US troops around the globe and to offer the music from the CD as free MP3 downloads from [http://www.aafes.com www.aafes.com] . The songs donated include:

*Billy Joel - "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"
*Brooks and Dunn - "Keep on Swinging"
*Five for Fighting - "100 Years"
*The Fray - "How to Save a Life"
*Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band - "Sweet Home Chicago"
*Goo Goo Dolls - "Feel the Silence (Remix)"
*Jewel - "Hands"
*Josh Groban - "February Song"
*Los Lonely Boys - "Heaven"
*Maroon 5 - "She Will Be Loved"
*Nik Kershaw - "Wouldn't It Be Good"
*Melissa Etheridge - "Come to My Window"
*Montgomery Gentry - "My Town"
*The Neville Brothers - "Brothers"
*Sarah McLachlan - "Wintersong"

Any US military member is eligible to download the music through AAFES.

He also performs on the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon and has done various events for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and Augie's Quest, raising awareness and funds for ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).

Back Country

The live CD and DVD released on November 6th, 2007 comes in 3 formats: Live CD, Live Back Country DVD, and Live Back Country Special Edition CD/DVD. Back Country was recorded live in concert in Orlando. The Live CD includes "100 Years," "Freedom Never Cries," "Superman," "Two Lights," "The Riddle" as well as other fan favorites. The "Back Country" DVD, in addition to the live concert footage, features all of the Five For Fighting music videos, an interview with the inspiration for the song "Two Lights", charity videos from www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com, and Five For Fighting photo montage.

Discography

Albums

* 1997: "Message for Albert"
* 2000: "America Town" #54 U.S., #30 Australia
**RIAA Certified: Platinum (10/2004)
* 2004: "The Battle for Everything" #20 U.S., #73 Australia [cite journal|date=2004-04-12|title=ARIA Top 100 Albums|publisher=ARIA|issue=737|pages=2|url=http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20040407-0000/ISSUE737.pdf|accessdate=2008-10-03.]
**RIAA Certified: Gold (5/2004)
* 2005: "The Battle for Everything (DualDisc)"
* 2006: "Two Lights" #8 U.S.
* 2007: "Back Country"

ingles

Singles: RIAA Awards
*"Superman (It's Not Easy)"
**RIAA Certified Gold (11/2005)
*"100 Years"
**RIAA Certified Platinum (7/2007)

Notes

*On the weekend of January 27/28, 2007, John Ondrasik filled in for legendary radio host Casey Kasem on the "American Top 20" and "American Top 10" radio programs. On AT20, he counted down his own hit "World," and on AT10 he counted down his own hit "The Riddle."
*In 2005 he recorded the song "Penguin Lament" for Sandra Boynton's "Dog Train" book and CD. In 2007, he again collaborated with Boynton, performing "Big Band Sound" on the "Blue Moo" album.
*In March 2007, Ondrasik began appearing in a series of short videos profiling Republican presidential contenders in an interview format at gather.com. So far he has interviewed Mike Huckabee [http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976954454] and Newt Gingrich [http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976975209] .
*John Ondrasik co-wrote the Josh Groban song "February Song" for Groban's third album, "Awake".

References

External links

* [http://www.fiveforfighting.com/ Five for Fighting Home Page]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Bdudayl1oxpbb/ Five for Fighting All Music Guide article]
* [http://www.fuzzmagazine.com/Features%20%26%20Reviews/97B32DC6-75EB-4186-B66D-28D635987C03.html FUZZ Music Magazine: The Suburban Poet/Five for Fighting]
* [http://entertainment-news-network-archive.blogspot.com/2006/08/interview-john-ondrasik-of-five-for.html Interview: John Ondrasik - Five for Fighting - Two Lights]
* [http://www.gijobs.net/magazine.cfm?id=1028&issueId=79 Interview with John Ondrasik by Joshua Hudson, March 2008, G.I. Jobs Magazine]
* [http://politicscentral.com/2007/02/14/the_glenn_and_helen_show_five.php Podcast/interview of Ondrasik on The Glenn and Helen Show]
* [http://www.imno.org/articles.asp?qid=240&sid=18 2006 IMNO Interview with John Ondrasik]
* [http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YmUyMDA3ZmFlMzZmMWRmZDY3MDIwYWQ4NTA5ZjAwMWI= National Review Online: "Fighting for Freedom," by John J. Miller]