Unexpected Harmony As Homeless Singer And Street Busker Sing “Summertime”

Jonny Walker was a talented busker who traveled all over Britain to share his music and message. He even founded the Association of Street Artists and Performers and the Keep Streets Live Campaign, both aimed at supporting street musicians.

His take on being a busker: “If you like people you’ll be a good busker. Busking is as much about making connections with people and brightening up their days as it is about virtuoso performances. There are some buskers who are technically very good players but don’t engage with the crowd that well, whilst others might not be as skillful musically but are great at connecting with their audience.”

One New Year’s Eve in Leeds, while he went out to perform, a homeless man in a wheelchair approached and asked if he could sing with him.

Although he had spent a lot of time on the streets and had seen this man many times, he didn’t realize the man was singer Brian Bernard Davey, known on the street as “Belfast Brian.” As the years had gone by, Brian’s health had visibly worsened a great deal.

This unexpected encounter created an incredible spontaneous performance. They played a version of ‘Summertime,’ and Jonny was amazed by Brian’s vocals. He asked a passerby to capture the moment on their phone and later uploaded the video to the Internet.

Check it out in the video below, which has garnered 5.6M views and received an abundance of positive comments such as “When he started to sing, I was SHOCKED by the power of his beautiful hoarse voice! Thank you! It was beautiful!”

Many also admitted that the collaboration shed their tears and they realized that there is so much unrecognized talent in this world living on the streets.