SMH partners with AC/DC singer Brian Johnson

Sarasota Memorial Hospital banded together with AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson to open the Brian Johnson Music Therapy Center for pediatric patients.

The center, which opened Nov. 10, is equipped with three flat-screen monitors, stage lighting and instruments for pediatric patients. Walls of the center are decorated with images from Johnson’s concerts to set the stage for kids’ own performances.

Although patients who will benefit from the center may be too young to have heard AC/DC during the height of the band’s popularity, Johnson hopes to help them through a medium that was so influential to his life.

The music room was built thanks to vendors and donors, namely Brian and Brenda Johnson. Johnson, a Sarasota resident, has been working with the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation for years to bring room to life.

“Music has been such a big part of my life,” Johnson said in a statement. “Brenda and I wanted to give something back to this town that we call home. Bringing the joy of music to children could not make me happier. Now let’s rock.”

Sarasota Memorial Hospital expanded the music therapy room that was built in 2008 to house the new Music Therapy Center. The center was part of a larger renovation plan for that wing of the hospital, which is scheduled for completion in January.

In the new Music Therapy Center, kids can grab a guitar, start playing and pretend they are performing live at a sold-out performance. Patients can rock out as loudly as they want to ease their stress; the center is sound-proof.

“The community and especially the children who have to be in the hospital will benefit from the Johnsons’ generosity and caring support of children,” said Alex Quarles, CEO of the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation.