No one expected 81-year-old Dave Williams to sing a proper tune when he took the microphone to sing at a nursing home, but the 81-year-old stunned everyone with a pitch-perfect rendition of ‘Unchained Melody’ by The Righteous Brothers.
When Dave Williams requested to perform himself, guests at the Park View Nursing Home in Liverpool were enjoying some fine singing by local vocalist Toni Nesbitt. Dave retired from the NHS after 50 years of service as a medical assistant.
The vocal abilities of a man who had sung with the Beatles a few times astounded everyone in attendance. “When I got up, my daughter was begging me to sit back down,” Dave admitted. “However, I’m glad I didn’t!”
He found it extremely rewarding after his performance when a dementia patient began humming the song to herself. “There was a dementia patient in the audience, and after my performance, I saw her singing the song to herself, which was brilliant.”
Dave used to be in a band called The Dices, and they performed with Beatles drummer Ringo Starr in 1958. Dave went solo when he was 17 and sang for £3 a night at a small club on weekends.
When he sang with The Beatles at Knotty Ash Village Hall in Liverpool in 1961, at the request of a friend, it was a truly magnificent moment for him. Another memorable event in his life occurred in 2000, when he performed in front of a large crowd, including Mel C., at Paul McCartney’s 58th birthday party at the Linda McCartney Centre.
“It was all surreal and something I will never ever forget,” he says of the experience. The performance at Knotty Ash was a little awkward. I may have been off-key, but I got a standing ovation! People came from all over the world to celebrate Paul’s birthday.”
An employee at the nursing home posted a video of Dave’s performance on social media, saying, “Words can’t explain how we all felt after his performance—and he has said he would love to perform for us again.”
The video was shared on the Park View TikTok profile, where it received 500,000 views and numerous positive comments from viewers. Dave was taken aback when people at his favorite local shop gave him a standing ovation the next day after seeing his performance.
