Five for Fighting serves as the solo project of John Ondrasik, who first gained widespread attention in 2001 with the Grammy-nominated pop/rock ballad "Superman (It's Not Easy)," a track that resonated widely in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Across the following twenty years, Ondrasik delivered a series of heartfelt Top 40 singles such as "100 Years," "The Riddle," "World," "Chances," and "Blood on My Hands," establishing Five for Fighting as one of modern pop's most lasting purveyors of introspective ballads.
Raised in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, Ondrasik began formal musical instruction at age two under his mother's guidance as a piano teacher. At thirteen he turned to guitar, mastering the instrument through self-directed practice while also pursuing opera vocal training. Finding opera unsuited to his tastes, he drew fresh creative direction from Billy Joel, Journey, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, and Earth, Wind & Fire.
Adopting the hockey-derived moniker Five for Fighting, Ondrasik launched his major-label career in 1997 with the release of Message for Albert on Capitol Records. After departing that imprint he moved to Columbia and issued America Town in 2000. The album expanded Ondrasik's recurring subjects of love and existence with added political elements, earning favorable critical notices yet modest commercial traction. Its fortunes shifted dramatically after the September 11 attacks, when the introspective piano ballad "Superman (It's Not Easy)" struck a national chord; Five for Fighting performed the song at that winter's Concert for New York City, and America Town achieved platinum status months afterward.
Though the path to recognition carried mixed emotions, the single's breakthrough granted Ondrasik greater creative freedom. The Battle for Everything, released in early 2004, marked Five for Fighting's boldest stylistic and lyrical effort to that point and produced the high-charting single "100 Years." Two Lights followed in 2006, examining blue-collar American life through themes of love, mortality, conflict, and family while yielding the hits "World" and "The Riddle." A live recording, Back Country Live, appeared in 2007, succeeded in October 2009 by Slice, which included the Billboard-charting "Chances" co-written with musical theater composer Steven Schwartz. Ondrasik rejoined producer Gregg Wattenberg, previously involved with America Town, for his sixth studio album, Bookmarks, issued in September 2013 and featuring the adult contemporary hit "What If."
"Born to Win" emerged as a standalone single in 2016 and closed the eighth season of American Ninja Warrior. In 2017 Ondrasik partnered with Jim Brickman on the holiday track "Christmas Where You Are," and the following year he contributed "The Song of Innocents" to the end credits of Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer. He drew viral attention in 2021 with "Blood on My Hands" and its stark video, both condemning the withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan. He sustained that political engagement with the 2022 release of "Can One Man Save the World?," a tribute to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
