[Benjamin]

Thousands Raised for Homeless Busker After Performance Goes Viral on TikTok



Donations totaling nearly five thousand dollars were raised for a homeless busker after a video of his soothing voice and guitar riffs went viral on TikTok.

The 59-year-old was filmed wowing strangers with his rendition of the Dire Straits hit ‘Sultans of Swing’ as drivers queued up at a MacDonald’s drive-thru.

And now nearly £5,000 (British pounds) have been donated to John Metcalfe, who says he’s hoping to buy a camper van to tour the country while playing music.

Before the fateful encounter, Stephen Flynn had dined with some colleagues for breakfast in Liverpool on August 20.

“Coming back out, we spotted John on the corner. My mate said, ‘Look at him with his guitar.’

“So I drove round and started to record. I just said, ‘Give us a little tune,’ and the rest is history.

“I put it on TikTok and it just went through the roof.”

Stunned by the tally of 11 million views of the performance (watch it below), Stephen decided to do more to support the man, beyond his original cash tip.

“I went back, and I saw him, and I went, ‘John, you’ve gone viral. Give us your number, I’ll stay in contact with you.’”

He set up a GoFundMe page to support John after learning he’d been living in a broken-down Peugeot.

“I’ve been ringing him every day and I’ve been going up and looking after him.”

Stephen said he was in awe of the amount of money that locals donated to John—but the notoriety has also led to an opportunity to perform in Liverpool.

“People just come together when things like this happen.

“He just needed a little bit of a pick me up. He hasn’t looked back since.

“Hopefully he’ll get his little camper-van and he can then sail off into the sunset—that’s the plan.”

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/thou...-tiktok-watch/