As the film, out Christmas Day, introduces the Sardinas to a wider audience, here’s a closer look at the real-life couple behind the music, how they met and why their unlikely journey still resonates.
Yes. The film is inspired by the true story of Mike and Claire Sardina, the husband-and-wife duo behind the Milwaukee-based Neil Diamond tribute act Lightning & Thunder, which attracted a cult following from the time of its inception in 1989.
“Craig [Brewer, the director] really wanted us to create our own versions of these characters and not mimic anyone from the documentary,” Hudson told Variety. “So I didn’t connect with Claire until we started filming … it kept me from slipping into caricature.”
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Who is Mike Sardina?
In the decades before their glitzy, Vegas-style act found a modest but passionate following at state fairs, bars and festivals, he worked blue-collar jobs — auto mechanic, handyman — and served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. Like many veterans of his generation, he struggled with addiction and financial instability after returning home. But his desire to take on the stage ultimately won out over his vices. He got sober in the early ‘80s and performed as Lightning from 1989 until his death in 2006, at the age of 55, from complications due to a head injury.
Before finding a small-but-mighty fanbase as one-half of a Neil Diamond tribute band, Claire (born Claire Therese Stingl) was a single mother of two daughters, Dana and Rachel Cartwright, supporting her family as a hairdresser in Milwaukee. On the side, she sang local gigs, covering the likes of Patsy Cline andBarbra Streisand, which is how she wound up crossing paths with Mike and eventually forming Lightning & Thunder.
How did Mike and Claire Sardina meet?
The pair first met in 1987, when Claire auditioned for Mike’s short-lived band Positive Traction. She didn’t get the gig, but she made enough of an impression on Mike that when he had the idea for a Neil Diamond tribute act, he called her up from Florida, where he had moved for a brief period, and asked her to team up with him.
Related: Watch Hugh Jackson Propose to Kate Hudson in ‘Song Sung Blue’—the True Story of Mike & Claire Sardina
Did Eddie Vedder really ask “Lightning & Thunder” to perform with Pearl Jam?
Eddie Vedder gave Mike and Claire Sardina one of the biggest breaks of their career at Summerfest 1995 when he invited the duo to join him onstage at the festival. As the story goes, the famous frontman stumbled upon Lightning & Thunderwhile roaming the festival grounds and was so impressed by their performance that he called his tour manager and asked him to book the duo for Pearl Jam’s two-day run. “We have another hometown special guest for you,” Vedder introduced the couple to his fans.
“He played a couple songs and the crowd was digging it,” Babisch told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2022. (Vedder joined them for a rendition of “Forever in Blue Jeans.”)
Mike died in 2006 due to complications from a head injury (he reportedly refused to see a doctor after a fall, instead continuing to perform with his wife). His obituary noted that he “dutifully served his country as a veteran of the Vietnam War” and that he was “a recovering alcoholic of 25 years who celebrated his daily sobriety.”
What happened to Claire Sardina?
It's unclear whether she made any money from Song Sung Blue, but she recently attended premiere events for the movie, even belting out tunes alongside Jackman and Hudson in New York City.
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When asked what her late husband would think of their life getting so much attention, she told Inside Edition, “What he would think was, ‘This is huge.’”
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