Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt of Boston rockers Extreme performed the national anthem on Saturday at Fenway Park prior to the Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays game.
Footage of the performance was filmed by Darren Parker, who has proclaimed himself one of Nuno's biggest fans. The band and fans know him as NunoFreak.
Darren has an inoperable brain tumor, rendering him unable to work as his medical bills are mounting.
A fundraiser is being held on June 23 at Sleep's Bar & Grill in Bluffs, Illinois which will include an auction, donations and freewill. Darren's dream was to have Nuno show up, but, unfortunately, Nuno will be in London on tour with Rihanna.
Bettencourt came up with a solution to help.
Last week, Nuno surprised Darren by calling him on the phone and invited him to be his special guest with Gary for the Red Sox game. This generous offer included Darren to be on the field when they performed the national anthem. After the performance, Nuno gifted him one of his Washburn Nuno Bettencourt N4 guitars so Darren can auction it on eBay to help cover his medical expenses.
The Red Sox had kindly agreed to let Darren come in the afternoon to watch soundcheck and then stay in the park to watch batting practice. "We are making this real special for him," stated Bettencourt.
After the phone call with Nuno, Darren sent management an e-mail saying that he "literally had to pull the car over on the side of the road for 20 minutes to just process the conversation he just had with Nuno."
For more information on the fundraiser, visit Darren's web site here.
Last month, Extreme played a series of shows in Japan, where the band performed their 1990 classic album, “Pornograffitti,” in its entirety.
The band’s second album put Extreme on the map; it featured two hit singles, “More Than Words” and “Hole Hearted,” both acoustic-based numbers…while most of the album was a mix of hard rock and funk.
See also:
Former Van Halen singer raves about band’s new album
Gary Cherone shares his Van Halen experience
Extreme to perform Pornograffitti album in Japan
ZZ Top, Extreme guitarists help launch new Pushking album
New Extreme video
New Extreme
Extreme Rihanna
