Inspired by the real-life story of Mike and Claire Sardina, Song Sung Blue follows a working-class Midwestern couple (played by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson) who form the Neil Diamondtribute act Lightning & Thunder and slowly build a devoted following. It’s a feel-good musical, sure, but one grounded in the hard realities of everyday life.
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.
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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.
The couple was previously the subject of a 2008 documentary, also titled Song Sung Blue, by Greg Kohs. While the feature film draws heavily from that source, it isn’t a beat-by-beat adaptation: certain details were reshaped for narrative purposes, and the cast made a conscious effort not to impersonate the real people involved.
“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.”
Happily, the real-life Claire approved of the result. “They studied the documentary, they did their homework, and they greeted [me] with open arms last year during production of the movie," she told Milwaukee’s TMJ4.
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Who is Mike Sardina?
Mike “Lightning” Sardina was a working-class native of Milwaukee, Wis., who found unlikely success as a performer when he dreamed up the Neil Diamond tribute band “Lightning & Thunder” with his future wife, Claire.
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.
In addition to Claire, he was survived by his two children from a previous marriage, Michael Jr. and Angelina, among others.
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.
In 1999, at the age of 37, Claire was struck by a car in the front yard of her home and lost part of her leg, an injury that put a tremendous strain on her livelihood. With the help of a prosthetic (and some Midwestern grit), she returned to the stage, continuing to perform alongside her husband until his death in 2006.
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.
"At the time I was a single parent of two kids, living alone and transferring from one place to another," Claire told On Milwaukee in 2003. "So when Lightning called, I was like 'Why the heck not? I have nothing to lose.' I picked him up from the [Mitchell] airport on April 11, 1989 and we've been together ever since."
Related: Watch Hugh Jackson Propose to Kate Hudson in ‘Song Sung Blue’—the True Story of Mike & Claire Sardina
The couple made their nuptials a fan-friendly affair, tying the knot in the summer of 1994, while gigging at one of their regular stops, the Wisconsin State Fair in Milwaukee. During a break in performance, they exchanged vows under a big tent in front of more than 1,000 people.
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.
Bob Babisch, a key executive behind the festival, recalls having to “push” Mike out onstage with his guitar because the Neil Diamond impersonator was so terrified to play for a crowd that massive (the amphitheater held more than 20,000 people).
“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.”)
“They came off stage and the production guys said, 'Can you do it again tomorrow?' And Mike thinks for a second and says, 'I need a dressing room, I need 20 comps, I need catering.' It was great.”
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?
Claire's life may have gotten the Hollywood treatment, but she still lives quite modestly, now in Apache Junction, Ariz., where she performs as a solo artist under the name Thunder After Lightning.
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.
@donavanroseIt’s everything you want… it’s everything you ever need… and it’s here right in front of you!!! #hughjackman #songsungblue #sweetcaroline #lightningandthunder #milwaukeewisconsin
♬ original sound - Donavan RoseWhen 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.’”
“His dream initially was, ‘We’re gonna go to Vegas, baby. Someday we’re gonna get to Vegas,’” she continued. “Well, that didn’t happen. But this is just as good.”
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