AUGUST 8 • 2024 | 39
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a frequent (and outspoken)
guest on news programs and
talk shows.
Ondrasik, whose wife,
Carla, was raised Jewish, is
happy to do it — although
not happy that he has to. But
he’s befuddled and not at
all happy that he’s not been
joined in this pursuit.
“I’m like, ‘Me? Me?!
Really?’” he explains via
Zoom from his home in
California. “I mean, this is
the music industry, right?
This is Live Aid. This is
Sun City. There are very big
artists who like to stand on
their pedestals and lecture
us on human rights. Many
are Jewish. The fact that not
one of them can say Hamas
is bad, release the hostages.
They don’t have to say, ‘I love
Israel’ or ‘Netanyahu is my
hero’ — just say ‘Release the
hostages. Stop using Gazans
as shields.’”
He adds that in the video
for “We Are Not OK,” which
is filled with Oct. 7 images,
“it was very intentional that
the last image is Martin
Luther King’s quote that
‘silence in the face of evil
is complicity.’ The music
industry is complicit. It’s a
historical shame I don’t think
we’ll ever recover from. It’s
really depressing.”
Ondrasik is quick to
mention those he feels are
stepping forward, however,
such as actor Michael
Rappaport and David
Draiman of the heavy rock
band Disturbed (“Who’s
amazing,” he says). And he
was happy Barbra Streisand
released her song “Love Will
Survive” during April as a
response to antisemitism.
But he thinks there should be
more.
“I’ve talked to some of
them, some folks who work
with a couple of the biggest
stars, like, ‘Look, you have
more of a relationship
to this than me. Where
are they? Why can’t they
say anything?’ And they
tell me they’re afraid.
They’re afraid for their
families. They don’t want
their concerts protested.
I get it. But you have to
understand those are the
same arguments people used
in 1938, 1939.
“Cowardice is contagious.
But courage is contagious,
too. If one of the icons
stepped out and said
something, I think you would
see a domino effect. But no
one’s been willing to do that.
I don’t understand.”
MUSIC WITH A MESSAGE
Social consciousness has
become a recent path for
Ondrasik with Five for
Fighting, winning him both
praise and protest from all
sides of the divide.
Taking the Five for
Fighting band name from
the hockey penalty term,
Ondrasik released his first
album, “Message for Albert,”
in 1997. He hit big three
years later, however, with
“American Town” and its
single “Superman (It’s Not
Easy),” a Top 20 hit whose
expression of personal
resilience became even
more resonant after the 9-11
attacks on New York. It was
nominated for a Grammy,
and Ondrasik performed it
at the Concert For New York
City during October of 2001.
The moving “100 Years”
went platinum in 2003, and
Ondrasik has released six
Five for Fighting albums and
an EP overall, and he’s also
written music for TV series
such as Hawaii Five-O, Code
Black and American Ninja
Warrior and done some TED
talks.
He established a video
charity website asking,
“What kind of world do you
want?” which raised money
for various nonprofits, and
Ondrasik performed many
shows for U.S. troops, and he
was honored by the National
Fatherhood Initiative at the
2009 Military Fatherhood
Award Ceremony
After 2013’s “Bookmarks”
album, however, Ondrasik
began devoting more time
to helping run his family
business, Precision Wire
Products. His muse was
jarred again by the U.S. with-
drawal from Afghanistan in
2021, which inspired him
DETAILS
Five For Fighting performs
Saturday, Aug. 10, at Saint
Andrew’s Hall, 431 E.
Congress St., Detroit. Doors
at 7 p.m. Call (313) 961-8961 or
saintandrewsdetroit.com.
COURTESY PHOTO
YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT
John Ondrasik on stage with Five for Fighting in 2023
Thousands came
to the Bring
Them Home Now
concert.
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