At 70 years old, Frank Watkinson may not have viral chops or a flashy look, but he has something far more powerful: the ability to touch your soul with his beautiful and heartfelt music.
Attendees of the Lionel Richie And Friends In Concert show in 2012 were in for a treat when Kenny Rogers took to the stage to pay tribute to his friend. He began by telling the story of when he first met Lionel. He pitched one of his songs, ‘Lady’, to Kenny. He told him it had been turned down by his band The Commodores, which Kenny noted seemed “an interesting approach to selling a song”. He recorded it, and it became one of Kenny’s greatest hits as well as boosting Lionel’s early solo career.
Kenny told this story at the concert. Then, he shocked and surprised the audience by inviting Lionel up from the audience to sing the song with him. Cheers rose from the crowd as Lionel ran up on stage, wrapping an arm around his friend and kissing him on the cheek as they began to sing. The pair stayed close on stage as they traded verses back and forth. The crowd continued to cheer throughout the song, clearly thrilled at the rare opportunity to see the two music greats together.
The duo stayed close throughout their careers, ever since their chart-topping hit was released in 1980. While both went on to have enormously successful solo careers in their own right, they were known to come together to sing live together now and again. They had performed ‘Lady’ together previously at the CMT Crossroads in 2005, as well as at the First Fifty Years show in 2010. Little did they know, their 2012 performance of the song would be their last.
When Kenny Rogers sadly passed away in 2020, Lionel took the opportunity to pay tribute to his friend at the 2021 Grammy Awards. Performing in the ‘In Memoriam’ part of the ceremony, Lionel gave a moving rendition of the song, finishing his performance by saying, “We miss you, Kenny.” After the performance, he tweeted that when he wrote ‘Lady’, he had no idea it would be “the start of a friendship that would last a lifetime.”
Watkinson has gained quite the fanbase on YouTube, and his channel currently has 918,000 subscribers. His channel reveals very few details about him, but he did an interview with University of Sydney student newspaper Honi Soit which revealed some interesting details about him.
The Music Man readers will note that the interview reveals Watkinson to be quite the humble gentleman, as he said he was really excited when he gained just 50 subscribers for the first time. He said that now that he has almost one million subscribers it “feels exactly the same. It’s just a number, isn’t it?” He continued in a humble vein when describing his surprise success online, saying that he’s “not anyone special.” Watkinson’s channel bio reveals his motivation for continuing to create, saying “we can’t all be polished professionals, but that shouldn’t be a reason not to sing.”
If you would like to hear more from this talented guitarist you can subscribe to his YouTube Channel for more incredible music. You can also follow him on Instagram.
