Charlotte Boy finds his voice through iconic 80s songs

CHARLOTTE, NC (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – Some people just never quit. At 11 years old, that’s Addison Antonoff’s mentality.

While he was playing basketball at home, we imagined him telling himself, “Don’t stop dribbling…don’t stop shooting.”

“Don’t stop proving people wrong,” he often thinks.

“I love showing people things they don’t know I can do,” Addison tells Queen City News.

Don’t stop reading this article or watching our video story or you’ll miss the point.

“I want to sing ‘Don’t Stop Believin’,” he told his father, Brad Antonoff, before breaking into song in his playroom.

“I’m just a small town girl living in a lonely world,” sings Addison.

Sound familiar? Well, Journey is pretty much his thing.

“She took a midnight train that was going somewhere,” the prodigy continued

“It’s kind of his theme song, ‘Don’t Stop Believin’, because that’s who he is,” Brad explained.

“Don’t stop believing,” his son yelled.

The text fits him perfectly.

Well, except for the part about “the smell of wine and cheap perfume,” but I digress.

“Addison loves music so much, it brings him to life,” says his mother Pam Badgley.

“It gives me a lot of confidence and belief in myself,” Addison said.

His parents tell us he was born with a number of health problems, including a cleft palate and hearing loss.

“He’s had 10 surgeries and procedures before he even turned five. We still have a long way to go,” Pam says.

Addison recently underwent ear surgery in the hopes of partially regaining his hearing loss.

“It still worries me. Every day I think about… I think about his future,” Brad said, getting emotional. “Where he’s going to be. That worries me.”

The rock anthems of the ’80s weren’t meant for an audience of two. At local hotspots, Addison gets the crowd rocking with hits from Journey, Guns N’ Roses and more.

“I’m a kid and I shouldn’t know the music of the 80s,” Addison realizes.

“When he goes on stage, he becomes a rock star,” his mother marveled. “They love him. Always a standing ovation.”

It started when his music teacher Amanda asked him to sing with her band called Smoking Gun.

He recently played some air guitar on stage with Lake Norman retro rockers Blue Monday.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” he was asked.

“I want to be a rock star!” Addison explained.

He told us that one day he would like to start his own band and call it The Rock Kid.

Addison’s stage presence is a breakthrough considering he barely says a word to other kids at school.

“But Addison will get to go on stage and sing in front of thousands of people he doesn’t know. The stage gives him the opportunity to finally develop his voice,” says Pam.

You’ll surely be proud of your sweet child as you watch him sing the Guns N’ Roses classic “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”

“She has a smile that reminds me of childhood memories,” the young star sang to us in the comfort of his home.

Addison has two goals when he grows up. First, he wants to be the first NBA draft pick. And second, he wants to be a rock star one day. So it seems clear that this could be quite a journey.

You know the pun is intended.

“Don’t Stop Believin’” is more than a song, it’s his state of mind.

“Don’t let anything stop you. ‘Don’t stop believing,’ definitely. Take that song to heart,” Pam said.

“I’m tearing up,” Brad says. “Without a doubt, my eyes are filling with tears because he’s been through so much.”

And once you’ve overcome Addison’s fate, you can be sure that he won’t give up, period.