 One of the best parts of the third annual Vail Scientific Summit was getting to hear crooner performer John Vincent sing all of the favorite classics from Sinatra to Louis Armstrong and I got to chat with him and it was amazing. I never thought I would be a singer, I thought I would be a football player. So I went to a Chicago school, a football powerhouse in the Catholic League called St. Lawrence. And it was a hundred kids trying out and that was the first one cut. I was smaller than everybody. Smaller than everybody. And it was hilarious, like I'm like I'm done, forget it, I'm never going to try for football again, blah, blah, blah. Junior or senior year I grow eight inches, they're like you're coming to play football. Played there, started, went to Almer's College as a pre-seasonal American, got hurt, played here at Pro Football in Germany, didn't go any further than that with a recruiter in accounting and finance and my sister goes, Johnny, when you sing along to Sinatra you sound like him. I'm like I'm 29 years old, I'm not going to, what am I going to do with this, I'm not going to become a singer at 29, you know it's not something you do. And she's like why don't you try it, why don't you try it at night, why don't you just see what happens. Was with a girl at the time who like broke my heart, like we were engaged and she cheated on me and I'm like screw this, engagement's off, I'm going to Vegas tonight and go nuts. And I did, I jumped on a flight to Vegas and just went nuts for a week and I got this Italian mother who's like crying and she's like, Johnny what are you doing, I'm like well I'm going to become a singer, don't worry about it. She's like what are you talking about, you got a great job, I'm like I'm going to become a singer, just give me a second to clear my head here, I want to have some fun at Vegas. So when I came back home I had a cassette back then, this was 2001, and I started messing around handing it at places. Now my parents were born in Italy, I never listened to Sinatra growing up, but my best friend in college got us tickets to see Sinatra because his grandfather knew him and we went to go see him at the United Center. And Don Rickles opened up for him at that time. So I just started liking him then, liked him in my 20s, would sing along to him, my family was like, you kind of sound like Frank. After that, the cassette thing made this, I started a place called Rose Buds and Nonopinos, then one of the recruiters that I worked with went to Ditka's restaurant to meet a client. They had a guy singing Sinatra, they'd have a different singer every week, so they had about seven that they rotated. And if you live in Chicago going to Ditka's wasn't really a big thing because it was mostly tourists back then that would go. It still is a lot of tourist business. So I never stepped foot in there, mine was like Lincoln Park Bars, things like that. Just on a whim, my buddy goes, my buddy's trying to do Sinatra, he's trying to do it and the manager overheard it and gave him my card. So I walk in there and I walk up the stairs and there's Mike Ditka and Mrs. Ditka. This is John Vincent, we're gonna give him an audition tonight to sing. And she's like, you know what, forget that. Let me hear New York, New York. And I'm like, I can't get some music going. She goes, nope, right now. And I did it and she goes, you're hired. She goes, hire him. So they gave me a four month deal. Quit my day job, they're like, you can come back if it doesn't work out. Then they gave me a year and then they gave me a lifetime. And that was 16 years ago. It was August of 2001, I've been there ever since. Yeah, coach was like, Johnny, try Dean Martin. So I was like, okay, I'll try Dean Martin. Try this guy, I was like, okay, you know, Johnny, I really love that song. We're a wonderful world. So I'm like, okay, Louis Armstrong. Kind of, you know, everybody does it like they really over exaggerate it. But Louis doesn't. Louis kind of talks it through. So it's almost like, you know, I see those trees of green, red roses too, I see them bloom. So it's something I just kind of would hear with my ear and then say, you know, it's like, it's like Ray Charles. I know there's something in his jaw where he lowers it. So it's like, Georgia, oh, Georgia, the whole day through. Where Dino would also be that crooner. Where Sinatra would be like, you know, and did it my way, Sinatra would be the singer, right? He would give more of the oomph. So what I did, I just kept messing around with all these different singers, this, that, everything else, and we'll try to get their nuances. Johnny Cash with his, you know, I hear the trainer coming, it's rolling round the bend. You know, it was all talk with John. You know, he would talk a song and feel that pain and that sorrow. So it was all coach, did Cassane, try this, step out of the box, try that. I used to do the same Sinatra songs over and over and drive people crazy. I don't want to hear Summer Wind again. I'm like, what else do you got? New York, New York, what else you got my way? What else you got under my skin? And then I'm like, the way you look tonight, they're like, that's it? I'm like, that's five. Well, you thought you had six. And I'm like, oh, that's right. I got five. So how did you get connected with Spry in the Steadman Clinic? I was in Las Vegas performing at Mandalay Bay. And through Ditka's, I met just about everybody. And I became friends with so many people. So became really good for, I'm a packed fan out of Chicago, became really good friends with Brett Farmsway, a mother. Did the Anthem for Lambo at 2003. I just did the last playoff game there against the Giants. Me and Coach McCarthy had become very close friends. The Cubs, 2003, had me start singing the Anthem there. That's how that started. All these 85 Bears players that would come in became close. Hey, Johnny, would you sing at this event? Would you sing at that event? One of the guys was Jim Colbert. So Jim, who played at Pitt said, would you sing at one of my company's events at the Art Institute? I'm like, sure. So I sang, me and Jim became friends. And he goes, you know what, I'm in Vegas. You're out here, I'm like, yeah, I'm performing at Mandalay. He goes, I'm gonna bring my friend Dan. You're gonna love him out there. So I said, me and Dan became friends. So I sang at his rehearsal dinner in Florida. And then I went to his wedding, you know, after that the next day. And then Dan has me for all these events now. That is so cool. So it's just interesting, because when you look at your whole trajectory, how Heartbreak opened this door to this whole other life. So looking back, are you almost thankful? Oh, God, yeah. Oh, yeah. I actually came back into my life, tried to after that. And I was like, OK. No, it was funny. Yeah, it was great, because it would have never turned out this way. I don't think I would have eventually gone down that path. I think it just kind of, that's how it happened, right? By chance. You know, I just did a radio interview with the score. And that's AM Station Chicago. It's a big sports station Chicago. And I'm very open about my struggle with OCD anxiety and depression. I won't lie about it. I'll just say, hey, this is what it is. I did the Anthem for Game 4, and my phone blew up. Axis Holly, when all these things started doing stuff. And I'm like, what the hell just happened? Lady Gaga tweeted, John Vincent, wow, that's how you do the Anthem Goosebumps. So that changed my career. But the one thing I loved is that she came out and spoke about mental illness, and she was very open about it. And I'm like, that's great. Somebody in her spot to do that, that's so inspiring. So I've met people like Jamie Foxx. I've seen with him. I've seen with Faith Hill. I've seen a bunch of different big events. President Obama, Mayor Daley, brought me out to Copenhagen for the Olympic bid. A whole bunch of different Google. I went to go speak there for them. Facebook, you name it. But the one thing I do say about music is I know when I'm in a tough spot or I'm struggling, music helps me. Even if I'm not singing, listening to it. Now that I'm capable of singing it, that really helps because that really makes feel good that you're able to sing along with it.