The musical community watched silently as Hamas slaughtered innocents at the 2023 Nova festival on Oct. 7.
Bono of U2 fame and Madonna briefly mentioned the barbarism, with the latter adding a dash of “both sides-ism.”
Musicians more or less went about their business after that, later rallying to smite Israel for striking back against Hamas and attempting to return their captured citizens by force. Few, if any, addressed the shocking rise of antisemitism following Oct. 7.
Two musicians never stopped reminding us what happened that awful day and how many hostages were still in captivity under the worst of circumstances.
John Ondrasik, or as many know him, the voice behind Five for Fighting, and Disturbed lead singer Dave Draiman.
Grammy events came and went, and no musician dared to bring up the ongoing hostage crisis or call out Hamas for its barbarism. When a musician did speak up, politically, it was to denounce Israel and/or praise the Palestinian cause.
The same held true at film and TV awards galas.
Ondrasik and Draiman kept reminding us, from the stage and via social media, that Israelis were still being held in Gaza. Ondrasik even tweaked his hit song “Superman (It’s Not Easy”) to pay tribute to both the hostages and, more specifically, pianist Alon Ohel.
The 24-year-old was among the many captured by Hamas during the Nova Festival massacre.
Ondrasik shared “Superman (For Alon, the Hostages, and Their Families)” in April of last year. The song was already part of 9/11 lore, sung during The Concert for New York City as a way of supporting a city and people who suffered a catastrophic blow.
Now, it had a fresh purpose. Never forget what Hamas did, and, perhaps, quietly shame those too eager to memory hole those atrocities. The April 14 video found Ondrasik playing a piano at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square.
“Find a way to lie, ’bout a home I’ll never see,” became, “Find a way to fly, to a home I will soon see.”
Along the way, Ondrasik has one dream. He would someday sing “Superman” alongside Ohel on the piano. This week, that dream became a dramatic, heart-wrenching reality.
When we released the new version of “Superman for Alon and the Hostages” we all prayed that one day Alon would sit at a piano with me and together we’d perform Superman.
For all of you who fought for the hostages and their families. This video of that miracle is for you. pic.twitter.com/STgWBFwuzb
— John Ondrasik (@johnondrasik) May 12, 2026
Ondrasik shared a video commemorating the moment on his X feed, noting how often he wished for this moment to arrive before launching into the song in concert.
“We all hope and pray for the day that I can sit down at a piano with Alon and sing ‘Superman.’ We prayed for that miracle. We hoped for that miracle, and my friends, that miracle is right now,” he said before the duet began.
