Alex Etheridge (October 22, 2009[1] – July 19, 2023) was an American boy from Phoenix, Arizona, whose battle with bone cancer received international attention, leading to recording with the Minneapolis rock band Soul Asylum and a viral video of a meeting with his musical hero, Travis Barker of Blink-182.
)[6][7] Soul Asylum singer Dave Pirner and bassist Jeremy Tappero met Etheridge at Flowers Studio in Minneapolis, which was founded by musician Ed Ackerson, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2019; Ackerson's widow Ashley donated the studio time to Etheridge.
It was largely written by Etheridge himself, who had worked out the drum parts, lyrics, and main guitar riff before meeting with Soul Asylum.
[4] A report on Phoenix TV station KSAZ-TV was seen by Australian social-media influencer Samuel Weidenhofer, who traveled from Melbourne to help arrange a meeting with Alex's idol Travis Barker.
The two spent more than an hour together, talking and playing drums, including an introduction to Barker's wife Kourtney Kardashian via FaceTime.