After college, Ondrasik spent
the early 1990s playing singer/
songwriter gigs around Los Angeles
where he was discovered by a
music publisher, Carla Berkowitz,
whom he later married.
In 1995, John signed with EMI
Records. At the request of EMI executives
who found his surname
difficult to pronounce, Ondrasik,
a hockey fan, came up with the
stage name, “Five for Fighting,” an
ice hockey term that means a fiveminute
penalty for participating in
a fight.
Following the release of his debut
EMI recording, Ondrasik partnered
with Columbia Records
for his second album, America
Town, which featured the single
“Superman (It’s Not Easy”).” The
song became an anthem after the
September 11, 2001 attacks and
earned Ondrasik his first Grammy
nomination in 2002.
He followed that up with his 2003
hit “100 Years” which rocketed to
#1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary
Chart and earned a Platinum
certification from the Recording
Industry Association of America for
selling over a million copies.
Ondrasik’s song “World” was selected
by NASA to accompany an
inspirational video featuring the
International Space Station.
Spotlight Central recently talked
to Ondrasik about his musical upbringing,
his rise to fame with Five
for Fighting, his songwriting experiences,
in addition to his thoughts
on the world today.
We understand your dad was an
astrophysicist. Was he musical?
My dad was a cello player, and
he did meet my mom in a choir —
although I think he was there more
because he was attracted to my
mom, who was the piano player,
and not because he was a good
singer — but, yeah, when we’d go
on trips as kids, he would sing
songs from Oklahoma or old stan-
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