Tony Melendez is a Nicaraguan guitar player, singer and Christian rock songwriter who was born without arms. His mother took Thalidomide while pregnant, which caused his disability. Melendez has learned to play the guitar with his feet. As of 2005, his band, Tony Melendez and the Toe Jam Band, has a busy concert schedule. Melendez gives motivational talks and has written a book. He campaigns actively for the pro-life cause.

Melendez is famous for giving a performance in front of over 6000 young people at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles on September 15, 1987, for Pope John Paul II. After Melendez performed the song Never Be The Same, the Pope surprised everybody by leaping off the stage, walking over to the platform that Melendez was sitting on, and embracing him.

External links

• Tony's website

People without hands | Nicaraguan people | Year of birth missing | Guitarists | Christian musicians | Living people