He’s performed with The Beatles, but now he’s a bona fide solo star.
Dave Williams, an 81-year-old retired medical assistant and former singer who shared the stage with the Fab Four, shocked a nursing home with an improv performance at a fund-raiser.
Williams — who revealed he performed with The Beatles on several occasions as a young man — amazed Park View Nursing Home residents in Liverpool, England, on July 23 with a spur-of-the-moment rendition of “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers.
The elderly care facility shared a video of Williams singing on TikTok, where it has since gone viral with over 522,000 views.
Williams, who does not reside in the home, asked to get up onstage at the fund-raiser, which consisted of a picnic filled with food, fun and games, following vocalist Toni Nesbitt’s performance.
“When I got up, my daughter was begging me to sit back down, but I’m glad I didn’t,” Williams told South West News Service of his daughter Debbie, who is the chef at Park View.
His powerful performance not only wowed social media but also attendees at the picnic, namely a woman who has dementia.
“After my performance, I saw her singing the song to herself, which was brilliant,” he said.
Williams broke into song during a fund-raiser at a nursing home in Liverpool, England, where his daughter is the chef.Jodie Solaiman / SWNS“Words can’t explain how we all felt after his performance,” Park View well-being coordinator Jodie Solaiman said. “Dave has lived an incredible life, to say the least. He has said he would love to perform for us again.”
Solaiman, 25, posted the video to Park View’s TikTok, which garnered much praise and love for Williams, who didn’t know about the video. The octogenarian said he was startled when he went into his local betting shop the day after the nursing home event, and the whole store was clapping for him.
Solaiman was also stunned to find out about his past with The Beatles.
When Williams, who said singing “was his first love,” was just 15 years old, he started working at Sefton General Hospital and founded a band called the Dices, singing with them during his free time.
His band first appeared with Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, then unknown, at the Morgue Skiffle Cellar in Broadgreen, Liverpool, in 1958.
At the age of 17, Williams went solo and scored weekend gig vocalizing at a small club in Brighton. Around that time, he sang with The Beatles at Knotty Ash Village Hall in Liverpool in 1961.
“It was all surreal and something I will never ever forget,” he joyfully recalled. “The gig at Knotty Ash was a bit awkward. I may have been a bit out of key, but I got a good clap.”
The nursing home shared a viral TikTok of Williams showing off his pipes.Jodie Solaiman / SWNSThe crooner didn’t stop there. He even sang with Mel C of the Spice Girls at Paul McCartney’s 58th birthday in June 2000.
“At Paul’s birthday, people from around the world came to be there,” Williams gushed. “I’ve been lucky to have these experiences.”
While a gifted singer, Williams built an almost 50-year career working for the NHS, the United Kingdom’s publicly funded health care system, while also operating theaters around Merseyside, England.
“I owe my life and my happiness to the National Health Service,” Williams added. “I know it’s going through a bad patch, but it really is an excellent service with excellent people who give 100%.”
