One day though, the station agreed to play one of their songs. "I think it was to get us to leave finally," Franti explained. "They took our cassette and the DJ played it at 3:30 in the morning and I remember we ran outside because we were in the studio and we just wanted to hear it coming out through the speaker."

Franti said it was thrilling to hear his song played over the airwaves that day and it was something that at that time he hoped would happen more often. Unfortunately, it would take nearly 25 years before that wish would come true.

"Through 95% of my career, we never depended on radio to really play our records," Franti said of his career, which started in 1987 with his band The Beatnigs. "We felt lucky to have some college station play one of our songs or a little mom and pop radio station somewhere play one of our songs. We were thrilled."

So in 2010 when "Say Hey (I Love You)" off his sixth album with his band Spearhead, All Rebel Rockers, made its way to No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart�his first song to ever crack the Top 20�Franti should have been over the moon. Instead he was in the hospital.

"My appendix ruptured on tour and I came very close to dying," Franti said. "I was in the hospital and just going in to have this surgery when I get this text, 'Michael, your song is in the Top 20,' and I'm looking up at the doctor and saying, 'You better fix me, I want to hear my song on the radio!'