Second Cup Cafe: Five for Fighting

(CBS)  Five for Fighting platinum-selling artist John Ondrasik's career has been soaring high since 2001 with the release of his Grammy-nominated hit, "Superman," which became a post 9-11 anthem.

"Superman" had already been climbing the charts before the September 11th terrorist attacks, but the catastrophic event brought more meaning to the song, which Five for Fighting performed at The Concert for New York City in late 2001.

In 2004, John recorded the Platinum-certified album, "The Battle For Everything," and released yet another hit single, "100 Years."

Still capturing memories for the classic American songbook, Five for Fighting (made up of one main member) will release his fifth studio album titled, "Slice."

Ondrasik stopped by "The Early Show Saturday Edition"'s "Second Cup Cafe" to perform an acoustic performance of his brand new single, "Chances" and his 2001 hit, "Superman."

The singer/songwriter is also a guitarist, a pianist, and an avid sports enthusiast.

He came up with the title Five for Fighting from an expression used in ice hockey - when a player is sent from the rink by the referee for a major penalty. Ondrasik thought the name would be more catchy than his own.

Ondrasik's lyrics often mimic Ondrasik' actions in the sense that he is a philanthropist as well. In February of 2007, Ondrasik launched a unique charity-driven Web site, whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com, that raises money for various charities. The Web site has drawn more than 3 million viewers and brought in donations of $300,000.

He is also a dedicated supporter of U.S. troops. In March 2007, he performed at Guantanamo Bay for service members on his first USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour.

Since then, he's performed for U.S. forces on USO tours in Hawaii, Guam and Japan. Ondrasik has also conceived and produced "For the Troops," a CD compilation series of major recording artists, which is available for free to every active service member in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Five For Fighting will kick off an intimate acoustic tour starting Oct. 18 in Toronto, wrapping up Nov. 11 in Ondrasik's hometown of Los Angeles.