Former Hostage Alon Ohel Performs "Superman" Aboard USS Nimitz on America's 250th Independence Day | WATCH

Ohel was 24 years old when Hamas gunmen seized him from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, as he tried to flee the massacre. He spent more than 700 days in captivity in Gaza, enduring starvation, untreated wounds and severe hardship before his release earlier this year. While he was still being held, Ondrasik released a reimagined version of "Superman (It's Not Easy)," working with Ohel's mother, Idit, and brother, Ronen, to raise awareness of his case, changing a key lyric to promise he would "find a way to fly, to a home I will soon see." Ondrasik said he was moved to write the tribute after visiting Hostage Square in Tel Aviv and performing on Ohel's own piano there, and after seeing a childhood photo of Ohel dressed as the comic book hero.

Ondrasik told RealClearPolitics that bringing Ohel onto the Nimitz was meant as a symbolic recognition of his resilience, and pointed to the pianist's survival as something made possible by American support. He said he had invited Ohel to represent the fact that people around the world, and not only those who lived through it, understand the price of freedom.

The invitation to perform came through the office of the US ambassador to the United Nations, who was aware of Ondrasik's connection to "Superman" as a 9/11-era anthem and reached out to the Navy to arrange the performance as part of the broader Freedom 250 festivities. Ohel's arrival in the United States for the event was briefly delayed after he was held for about an hour upon landing in New York, after government systems still listed him as a hostage in Gaza.