A street musician was out doing his thing and performing his own rendition of Rod Stewart’s Handbags and Gladrags song from the 1969 album, An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down. Then, the original singer of the song happened to walk by. What would come next was simply meant to be it.
Thankfully, the spontaneous show by the famous singer was caught on video by one of the people watching the performance. Now, we all get to see how the magic happened.
Perfect timing
Henry Facey is a busker (a street performer) who can often be found strumming his guitar around London. However, he was about to pack up and go inside on that cold November day. Then something completely unexpected occurred.
Enter Rod Stewart
Henry was playing one last song, Handbags and Gladrags, for a small audience out on a windy street in the Piccadilly Circus area of London. That’s when Rod Stewart happened to be walking by. He heard the familiar tune, and he just had to sing along. The musical legend came right up to the street musician and asked if he could borrow the microphone to sing along.
Henry was astonished, but there was no way he could say no. Who could pass up the opportunity to play the guitar for Rod Stewart himself?
People on the internet felt the same way when they had a chance to view the performance later on.
Eric R. Bauman put it this way:
“What a Frickin’ Rush, can you imagine being a struggling Street Performer and Rod happens to walk by and wants to Jam with YOU! Thanks for posting and proof that “Rock ‘N’ Roll” will never die!!”
Singing it out
A real crowd began to gather as the singer situated himself in front of the microphone and began belting out the first lyrics:
“Ever seen a blind man cross the road, trying to make the other side, ever seen a young girl growing old, trying to make herself a bride?”
People began to get out their phones to record the moment. Others hooted and applauded for the two musicians as the classic red London double-decker buses went by in the background. It was a perfect moment and would be a hard one to replicate.
Sometimes things just come together like that.
Saying farewell
The short and spontaneous performance lasted for a little less than two minutes, but the enthralling moment felt longer for everyone who was there. It was the perfect exceptional addition to an otherwise mundane day.
Rod Stewart kept singing the lyrics of the song until he reached the last part of the chorus:
“The handbags and the gladrags that your poor old granddad had to sweat to buy ya. Oh, yeah.”
Once the song was finally over, it was time for the singer to go on with his day. He encouraged the crowd to give more applause for the street musician who had been playing guitar and said he would be handing the microphone back to the younger musician.
Rod Stewart also made a joke about how he wouldn’t be there for the later performance himself. Like all professional musicians, he made sure to give a shout out to the location (Piccadilly Circus, in this case) before finally handing that microphone back to the very honored street musician.
Are you ready to see the performance for yourself?
Check out the video below.
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