Advertisement

Scottish train passenger belts opera for commuters

Video of William Boyle's train performance of "Nessun Dorma" went viral.

By Ben Hooper
Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter

GLASGOW, Scotland, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- An amateur opera singer in Scotland earned a standing ovation for his latest performance -- on his train ride home.

William Boyle, 24, said he was traveling home Saturday on the Glasgow to Hamilton train when he decided to take inspiration from some fellow commuters who held a spontaneous Frozen sing along.

Advertisement

However, instead of a Disney hit, Boyle belted out a rendition of "Nessun Dorma," a selection from Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot that was made famous by Luciano Pavarotti.

Another passenger took video of Boyle's performance and posted it to Facebook, where it went viral.

Boyle, who has no classical training in singing, said he learned the song by listening to it on his iPod and often performs it in bars.

"I do sing in quite a lot of pubs," he told Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland. "Nessun Dorma -- which translates as 'none shall sleep' -- is always that song that people that know me want me to sing when we go out to the likes out pubs and clubs."

Advertisement

Boyle, who performed the song after having a few drinks on a work night out, said singing is what he "always wanted to do."

"I'd love to take the singing further. It would be a dream come true if anything could happen with it," he said. "At the moment I'm just trying to take each day as it comes."

Latest Headlines