Never give up on your dreams, ladies and gentlemen — even if you have the very specific dream of performing the song “Bodies” with noted hard-rockers Drowning Pool. This was 82-year-old Navy veteran John Hetlinger’s dream, one that he actually got to achieve on Friday, when he performed with the band at Chicago’s Open Air festival.
Hetlinger experienced some moderate fame when he appeared on America’s Got Talent earlier this year and performed “Bodies” at his audition, though he didn’t advance to the next round. (What a travesty.) Drowning Pool guitarist C. J. Pierce saw the audition, and told Loudwire that it was “awesome to just see an 82-year-old man get out there and just belt out some metal — whether it was our song or any song, it was just killer to see him do that.” The octogenarian powerhouse performed an additional set with the band at the Ink in the Clink festival yesterday, and even got a tattoo to commemorate the special occasion. Keep on rockin’, John.
