LIs Mike DelGuidice went from living in a trailer…
Now he’s the big shot.
An iconic Long Island musician who has been taking part in in Billy Joel’s band for more than a decade has the chance of a lifetime this Thursday by singing the National Anthem at the Ryder Cup, close to home at Bethpage Black.
“I’m petrified,” Mike DelGuidice of Miller Place told The Post just before seeing his huge stage at the Farmingdale golf course for the first time.
DelGuidice has been taking part in in Billy Joel’s band for more than a decade. Courtesy of Mike DelGuidice
“I’ve done it at a lot of Rangers games, Knicks games, Mets, Yankees…but this one being what it is, it’s a little nerve-racking,” said the hometown hero, who has stolen the show numerous occasions with his vocals and guitar abilities during Joel’s longtime residency at Madison Square Garden.
Fretfulness apart, teeing up this career-defining second is doubly thrilling for DelGuidice as he has grow to be a die-hard golfer over the past six years as properly.
“I’ve probably played almost 30 courses on Long Island…When I do a gig at a country club, I always try to negotiate a free round,” said DelGuidice.
“My handicap dropped tremendously these past few years, but it’s a lot of work and it’s a frustrating game…and, I’m an avid watcher as much as a player.”
DelGuidice, who will sing during the opening ceremony, has a probability to meet some of his heroes on home turf at the state-owned Bethpage Black Golf Course in Nassau County, which has beforehand hosted the US Open in 2002 and again in 2009.
He will see the best American golfers, led by one-time close-by St. John’s University standout and Team USA captain Keegan Bradley, face Europe’s aces in three days of inexperienced grit for global pleasure from Friday through Sunday.
Mike DelGuidice performs at Halftime at the Buffalo Bills vs New York Jets Season-Opening recreation at MetLife Stadium on September 11, 2023 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Getty Images
“I love Scottie Scheffler, but then again, I’m a huge fan of Bryson DeChambeau, I love Rory McIlroy. I don’t discriminate for any reason, whether it be country or anything,” he said of of the 2 Americans and the Northern Irish McIlroy.
“I don’t get starstruck easily when it comes to musicians or actors because I’m around that world a bit. But this is different because I watch these guys on a normal basis,” added DelGuidice, who cherished their appearances in “Happy Gilmore 2.”
DelGuidice, a religious Mets fan, in contrast his alternative to what it will be like singing in entrance of the gang during the Amazins’ 1986 World Series championship.
Mike DelGuidice performs the National Anthem before the Los Angeles Chargers vs New York Jets recreation at Met Life Stadium on December 24, 2017 in East Rutherford, NJ. Getty Images
And, while he has shot on some of the island’s most iconic programs like Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, he has yet to attempt Bethpage Black, which options a bold-faced warning signal at the first tee box for its infamous, PGA-level issue.
“After this, I think I’m going to have to try my luck at it.”
Better on the back 9
It has also been a long time coming for the 54-year-old dad of 4, who persevered through arduous occasions at the start of his music journey.
“Right off the bat — just struggle, struggle, struggle. I was living in a motor home in my friend’s backyard. I just got divorced…so there was a lot of ‘when are you going to give up the dream? You’re never going to make it in music,’” DelGuidice said of his 20s.
“I just wouldn’t bend. I don’t know if it’s an Italian thing or a Long Island thing, or if it’s a genetic thing — You can’t tell me I can’t.”
The big break began to come while DelGuidice was two years into operating an LI based Billy Joel cowl band, which caught the eye of the well-known Hicksville native himself in 2002.
They bonded over music, sharing the stage from time to time for the next decade, and in 2013, Joel requested DelGuidice a life-changing query during a rehearsal at the Paramount Theater in Huntington.
“He stood up and he’s walking away from the piano and he says, ‘I want to talk to Mike’…A couple of the people started gathering to hear what was going on, and he said, ‘No, I only want to talk to Mike alone.’”
Mike DelGuidice onstage at Madison Square Garden during the fifty fifth consecutive show of Billy Joel’s residency at Madison Square Garden on August 23, 2018 in New York City. Getty Images
Just like that, DelGuidice, now fortunately remarried, formally joined Joel’s ranks and was wavin’ the dangerous occasions goodbye.
“The beauty of that moment wasn’t even ‘oh wow, I’m getting to play with Billy Joel,’ it was an affirmation and a confirmation over everyone who said I couldn’t do this.”
Driving fore-ward
Nobody was more excited than Joel to be taught that DelGuidice was chosen to belt out the “Star Spangled Banner” as the Piano Man posted a “proud” picture of his colleague to Instagram earlier in the month.
DelGuidice said that he and Joel are of one thoughts in how the anthem needs to be correctly carried out.
“We’ve had many conversations about it. We’re both purists, so I approach the anthem in a very purist way,” said DelGuidice, who not too long ago launched a new single, “eliminateing Me,” and actively performs independently across LI and the nation as properly.
He has opted to sing a cappella, although it’s the most difficult rendition, which DelGuidice said is completely make or break on the very first notice.
“There’s not going to be any finagling of the melody or, you know, doing any of the Whitney Houston stuff…it’s such a patriotic thing. You want to do it right, you want to do it justice,” he said, including that the hundreds in attendance are welcome to be part of in.
The time DelGuidice has spent on stage together with Joel has also inadvertently helped him put together for this second where the entire world will likely be watching.
DelGuidice said that he and Joel are of one thoughts in how the anthem needs to be correctly carried out. Courtesy of Mike DelGuidice
During reveals, DelGuidice would sing the operatic aria “Nessun Dorma” to lead into the hit “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” — all because Joel cherished a YouTube model he posted years in the past.
Like with the upcoming anthem, DelGuidice had a pit in his abdomen to leap from 80s rock to a monitor profoundly completed by Luciano Pavarotti in entrance of hundreds — but just as he plans to shortly, DelGuidice rose to the event.
“This is the moment — just try to stay in it and start on the right note,” he said, including what an honor it’s to symbolize the celebrities and stripes.
“Deliver it, just deliver it, and just get through it — and try not to drop dead of a heart attack midway through,” DelGuidice joked.
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