Music For A Cure was created in loving memory of my son, Ryan Michael Bates, age 16, of Huntington Beach, California. In February 2001 Ryan was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma and PNET, bone and tissue cancer. Ryan's passions were music, wrestling and hockey. When Ryan got sick, music became his focus. Ryan wanted to learn to play guitar and meet the band Sugar Ray. I wrote a letter to the Sugar Ray fan club, to which Julie and Murphy Karges responded. Julie set up an informal meet and greet session for Ryan at their home with Murphy Karges (Sugar Ray's bass player) and Rodney Sheppard (guitar player). They hung out at Murphy's studio and talked about music, wrestling and girls! They gave Ryan a beautiful white Ernie Ball Guitar signed by the entire band, only Ryan was afraid if he played it their signatures would rub off, so Murphy bought him another guitar, which he never put down. Much to my surprise this one time meet and greet truly touched our life and turned into an awesome friendship.
Ryan and Murphy talked on the phone, spent a lot of time at each others houses hangin' out. Ryan brought his two friends Mike Bailey and Cameron Boden to Murphy's studio where "The Ryan Band" recorded. Murphy and Julie even invited Ryan to go to the Jay Leno Tonight show when they appeared in November. When Ryan's 16th birthday (December 5th, 2001) came, we asked the band to play at his party along with his best friend's brother's band, Arkham. Unfortunately they were playing a show in Vegas, so Julie came up with the idea of filming a birthday video for Ryan to show at his party. Murphy and Julie made an adventure out of driving to each band members home to tape the birthday greeting. Ryan treasured this gift and glowed as he shared it with his friends who attended his last Birthday Bash.
Through Julie and Murphy, we were also introduced to another musician, Peter Shambrook. Peter would visit every other day and would always bring his acoustic guitar along. He would play to Ryan for hours. Ryan was extremely happy, not to mention the rest of us too!
The compassion, kindness, caring, and faithfulness shown by these musicians and their families to Ryan and my family not only restores my faith in people, but is something I will be eternally grateful for and hope to pass it on toward other families! Music For A Cure brings music to kids who are critically ill, to brighten their days and to bring a sparkle to their eyes as these musicians did for Ryan. Ryan passed away in his sleep after a long and courageous battle on December 27, 2001, at home. I would like to believe he is rockin' the bass in heaven and watching over us as we bring music to kids and make a difference in their lives. Ryan, along with Mike and Cameron spent one evening thinking of names for this non-profit organization. They made a list of about 20 names and Music For A Cure was the one they selected before he passed away. Thank you for your genuine interest and loving support.
