c. 2006 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Becoming a professional guitar player is no easy task, especially for Tony Melendez.

It takes practice and dedication, which Melendez developed. It also takes a certain amount of God-given talent, which Melendez was born with.

What Melendez wasn’t born with were arms.

Despite the impediment, the rhythm guitar player and lead vocalist has toured the world with his band, even playing for the late Pope John Paul II.

His group, the Toe Jam Band, is named for the way Melendez plays, placing the guitar pick between his toes and strumming with one foot while forming chords and notes with his other foot.

Not only does Melendez delight audiences with his music, but he sends them a message of hope.

“For some reason, when people see a guy playing a guitar with no arms, it inspires them,” Melendez said in an interview before a recent performance for the all-girls Benedictine Academy in Elizabeth, N.J.

Melendez says as a guitar player, he simply adapted to what he had been given.

“I was born without the arms, so the feet just took over,” he said. “My dad had a guitar. He finally let me put my feet on it.”

And the rest is inspired history.

Melendez, who lives in Branson, Mo., has toured in 33 countries, he said, and has released his seventh album, “I Want to Lift My Feet Up High.”

He also wrote an autobiography, published in 1997. More information can be found at tonymelendez.com.

Melendez’s new album will be his first to be recorded in both Spanish and English. He has high hopes for the CD.

“I was never really someone who was charted on the radio,” he said. “I hope one day one song will stick. I hope to have a song people will remember.”

Melendez has opened for artists such as Amy Grant and played five times for John Paul.

It was his first fateful performance for the late pontiff in September 1987 in Los Angeles that skyrocketed Melendez to fame and faith.

The pope was so moved that he left his place in the audience _ distressing his security team _ and walked down to Melendez, ultimately delivering a kiss. Not only was Melendez instantly famous, but he also had a religious awakening, he said.

Many of his songs have Christian elements. During his performance he played song versions of the prayers “Hail Mary” and “Our Father.”

Melendez, 44, was one of the many thalidomide babies born without limbs in the early 1960s. A native of Nicaragua, Melendez’s mother was prescribed thalidomide to assuage her morning sickness while she was pregnant with him.

The drug has since been banned for pregnant women. However, it is now being tested for use in the treatment of AIDS, tuberculosis and other illnesses, according to the AIDS Treatment Data Network Web site.

Melendez is not shy about sharing the difficulties he had growing up different. In fact, he uses his stories to inspire his audience.

“The main reason I do this,” he said, “is so they do not give up on life.”

During the show, Melendez brought out his older brother, Jose, to talk about the hard times growing up in Nicaragua.

Jose Melendez explained to the audience how his friends would make fun of his little brother, and how he became ashamed of Tony.

That changed one day when his little brother begged him to play Frisbee.

Tony Melendez caught the Frisbee between his neck and shoulder and threw it back with his teeth. The throw was so accurate that the Frisbee hit Jose Melendez on the bridge of the nose, breaking it.

“He taught me to look through new eyes from then on,” Jose Melendez told the crowd. “Live life fuller, despite what comes in front of you.”

The girls of Benedictine Academy seemed to be inspired by Melendez and his band’s performance. Many hugged each other with tears in their eyes.

Angelica Velez, 15, said she was touched by Melendez’s strength and courage.

“Before the show I really didn’t have any heroes,” she said. “I complain about the littlest things and this just inspired me not to take things for granted.”

JL/PH END RNS

(Mike Karsnak writes for The Star Ledger in Newark, N.J.)

Editors: To obtain photos of Tony Melendez, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.