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Homeless man's breath-taking piano show stuns passersby

When homeless man Daniel Gould sat at a piano in the middle of a busy street, no one could have anticipated what was about to follow.

Wearing a scruffy, hole-littered singlet and worn baggy brown trousers, most people would normally walk past Gould without a second glance, but his flawless rendition of Styx's 'Come Sail Away' was so extraordinary it caused stunned strangers to stop in their tracks.

His impromptu concert in Florida, US, was breathtaking, moving and demonstrated exceptional talent all at the same time.

“Do you know how hard that piece is to play,” one woman remarked.

"I do!" another shocked onlooker replied.

The piano was recently installed in the city of Sarasota, Florida, donated to the area as part of the Sarasota Keys project.

Aroar Natasha was among the crowd of people who stopped and became mesmerised by the dulcet sound of the piano.

“Sarasota installed public pianos throughout downtown," she wrote on Facebook. "This homeless man now has the opportunity to be something other than ‘just a nuisance’ to all the people downtown. Just took my breath away. Wow.”

The video garnered almost 150,000 views in just 24 hours.

Overwhelmed by the response to his impromptu show, Gould said he was simply hoping it would earn him a couple of dollars in tips.

Instead, he has become an internet sensation and received worldwide praise.

“I was thinking I could just put my hat on the piano and make a couple of dollars and get tips," he said.

“I didn’t expect it to jump out like this."



Known around the town as 'Boone', Gould has a reputation for delighting passers by with his impromptu concerts, performing a daily five-song set list he learned while growing up.

He calls his performances the ‘Boone’ version of classics like Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’ or Bach’s 'Toccata'.

So what’s the true story of the grubby man with matted hair who sits on the streets and begs for his keep?

Gould was not always homeless.

His passion for music began as a child when he started to learn the clarinet, eventually playing the instrument for the US Marine Corps.

Shortly after his service, he returned to his home state of Michigan to study a university degree in music, with aspirations to one day teach his talents.

Sadly, he ran out of money to pay for the course three semesters before he was due to graduate.

In 1998, tragedy struck when his wife passed away.

“They sat me down and told me what had happened, that my wife had passed away…and I just lost it man,” he said.

His wife’s sudden passing prompted a downward spiral into substance abuse, which led to the loss of his toddler son to social services.

Eventually, Gould found his way to the Sun Coast where he met fellow musician Paul Lonardo. Together, the pair play gigs all over Main Street.

Sometimes children will sit next to Gould as he taps away at the piano keys, and often he will mentor them to play. For just a moment, he said, his dreams of becoming a teacher are fulfilled.

“I play the ‘Heart and Soul’ bass, I say ‘just hit the white keys, you can’t screw up’…it doesn’t matter how they play, if they play crappy or good, I always clap for them," he said.

“I’m a nurturer, I’m a teacher.”

A manager of a local bar, who was blown away by Gould's performance, has indicated he would be willing to give the pianist a try out as a potential act for a piano night.