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Glendale man with autism performs national anthem at Arizona Diamondbacks game

Posted at 10:48 PM, May 10, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-11 14:30:00-04

A real-life guitar hero rocked Chase Field on Thursday night. 

ABC15 first met Ridge Brown, a person with autism, a few weeks back after a video of him playing the Star Spangled Banner at his high school went viral, proving autism can't hold him back. 

It got the attention of Arizona Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall, who invited Ridge to play the anthem at Thursday night's game. 

"Well actually we saw your story on Ridge, and we were blown away," said Hall. 

Moments before his performance in front of thousands of fans, Ridge was calm and excited.

"I'm feeling great man," said Ridge. 

After rocking the stadium, Ridge was ecstatic. 

"Yeah, I killed it!" 

His dad, Glenn Brown, says he is blown away by his son who keeps proving autism isn't an anchor holding him down. 

"I am so proud of this young man. Just makes your heart melt to see him practice, play, and enjoy what he's doing," said Glenn. 

D-backs legend, Gonzo, even stopped by after Ridge played to congratulate him and take a picture.  

Ridge will graduate high school this week. His dad hopes all this is just the beginning. 

"He's made quite an accomplishment in his life and I hope he gets more success out of this because he's worked hard for it," Glenn said.