Song Sung Blue(2025)

Pooper:
Claire recovers and she and Mike have another brief and successful run as a Neil Diamond cover band. Mike dies of heart failure just before getting to meet Neil Diamond. Though he is gone, he left his family in a stable and happy place.

Long Ending:
Loosely based on a true story, Mike Sardina (Hugh Jackman) makes a meager living as a cover artist, playing small shows throughout the midwest. His true passion is Neil Diamond music. Mike soon strikes up a friendship, and then romance, with a Patsy Cline impersonator named Claire (Kate Hudson). They move in together, along with Claire’s teenage daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson) and son Dana (Hudson Hensley). Rachel befriends Mike’s teenage daughter Angelina (King Princess), who lives primarily with Mike’s ex.

Along with a former Buddy Holly impersonator named Mark (Michael Imperioli) Mike and Claire eventually start a Neil Diamond tribute band called Lightning (Mike) and Thunder (Claire). They add a bit of their own ideas and inspirations to the songs, and end up very successful. Their managers Dave (Fisher Stevens) and Tom (Jim Belushi) book them steady gigs at local casinos. Their fame peaks when the band Pearl Jam ask Lighting and Thunder open for them. Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder even joins them onstage to sing along.

Tragedy strikes when, one day, a car careens off their street and smashes into Claire. Her leg is amputated as a result of the collision, and she falls into a deep depression. The band breaks up without her (as Mike says, there can be no lightning without thunder) and he is forced to work a series of menial jobs and hosts a karaoke night. The stress exacerbates a pre-existing heart condition, and Mike suffers a heart attack (though he recovers). Meanwhile, Rachel gets pregnant, but Mike is able to help her successfully place the child for adoption. Claire briefly checks into a mental health facility, where she manages to regain her zest for life and singing. One day, another car ends up driving off the road and colliding with their house moments after Claire had moved from where she was standing. This crazy occurrence gets Claire to decide to perform once again (accepting that life is both short and random so she should embrace her passion).

She and Mike reform the band. It once again proves to be a success. They tour with their old buddies and fellow impersonators like Sex Machine (Mustafa Shakir), a James Brown impersonator. A local concert venue decides to book the reformed Lightning and Thunder to play a show the same night that Neil Diamond is playing at a sold-out arena in the same city (they figure this will let people who couldn’t afford the real show have an opportunity to experience Neil Diamond). Their show sells out too. Additionally, Dave and Tom have arranged for the band to meet Neil Diamond after their respective shows. Earlier that day, however, Michael sustains a head injury in the bathroom (and hides it so that nobody knows). Combined with the strain of headlining a show, he ends up passing away in the car of heart failure while en route to meeting Neil Diamond.

His friends and family hold a funeral for him, where Claire sings a little known Neil Diamond song in front of all the funeral-goers. Though they are sad, Claire and the kids move forward to live happy and fulfilling lives. The film ends with Dana watching an old video recording of Mike singing “Song Sung Blue” solo in their home.