Family is a beautiful thing, and Brooke Falls and Frank Nardone demonstrate that principle clearly. This past May, the two family members combined their musical skills in an emotional rendition that has quickly gone viral.
In the video, eighteen-year-old Brooke and her 81-year-old grandfather Frank perform the timeless 1940s classic “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”.
Frank is retired but loves playing ukulele with his Ukulele Players’ Club.
It seems musical talent runs in the family, however, as his granddaughter Brooke is a budding star in the Philadelphia area.
According to Brooke’s website, she has performed at over 45 venues in Philadelphia and the surrounding areas. In fact, just a few days ago she performed “God Bless America” at a Phillies game. In a Facebook post, the eighteen-year-old wrote: “Now I can finally say I’ve sung for over 40,000 people! It’s a pretty cool feeling.”
Frank is a proud grandfather who is very supportive of Brooke’s career. The older man loves accompanying his granddaughter on the ukulele during her various local events— but this may be their biggest glimpse of fame so far.
Their performance has been viewed over 250k times and is winning people’s hearts worldwide.
In the beginning of the video, Brooke holds up a piece of paper that shows the number 18, representing her age. She then passes it over to Frank, who flips it upside down to display the number 81. It’s a quick and efficient way of demonstrating their charming age gap.
Without a word, the two begin playing Judy Garland’s classic song. Brooke’s talent is undeniable; the young girl has an angelic voice which is resoundingly crisp. Frank’s fingers effortless glide across the string, the plucking of his notes betraying ages of practice.
The two are an unlikely yet adorable pair. The fact that they’re family makes the whole thing all the more enjoyable.
When Brooke and Frank shared their video online, they received so much attention the local news caught wind of their performance. On May 13, The Villages-News.com Facebook page posted the duo’s rendition, writing: “81-year old Frank Nardone and his 18-year-old granddaughter Brooke Falls shared this beautiful rendition of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ with us and we thought we’d like to share it with you!”
People immediately fell in love with the two performers, writing comments such as the following:
“OMG….beautiful & how special for granddaughter & grandfather to sing/play this timeless song. Awesome…gave me chills.”
“I presume this gorgeous 18 year old is doing something WITH THAT VOICE!! ( ie ‘going places!’). Most crisp, gorgeous voice I’ve heard in ages!!!”
“Bravo… Brooke you have a beautiful voice. Thank you for sharing that with us. Frank you play wonderfully. Brooke I hope you are considering a career in music…beautiful.”
If you’re interested, Brooke also has a YouTube channel with over 4,000 videos.
To date, her most popular video is a cover of “Feel It Still” by Portugal. The Man. Since being uploaded less than a year ago, it has gotten more than 47,000 videos.
Feel free to subscribe to her channel. With any luck, we’ll be seeing more collaborations between Brooke and her grandfather very soon!
See the emotional performance below!
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