Vladimir John Ondrasik III (born January 7, 1965), known by his stage name Five for Fighting, is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his piano-based rock, such as the top 40 hits, "Superman (It's Not Easy)" (2001), "100 Years" (2003) and "The Riddle" (2006). Ondrasik was born in Los Angeles, a child of a musical family. In his early years, he learned the piano; and, in his teens, he learned to play the guitar and started to write music. While he also learned to sing opera briefly, he soon decided that he would like to be a singer and songwriter. Ondrasik graduated from UCLA with a degr