‘Let It Go’: Idina Menzel Warms Hearts Singing With Cancer Survivor
There’s a warm wind blowing across the globe by the name of Idina Menzel. The “Let It Go” singer continues to amaze and inspire with her willingness to reach out to her fans. Just ask Amy Carmichael. The 10-year-old is a cancer survivor, and after losing one of her friends to the disease last year, she intended to sing “Let It Go” in her friend’s honor at a memorial ball in November 2015. Amy herself has been cancer-free for eight months.
Menzel met with the youngster backstage after her concert at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow and learned Amy was an aspiring singer. Her mother, Heather, explained that once Menzel heard that Amy planned on singing “Let It Go” in honor of her friend who lost his fight against cancer, she seemed very touched, though the singer was concerned about passing her cold on to the youngster. Les Hoey MBE and his Dreammaker Foundation arranged the meeting between the two.
Hoey established the Dreammaker Foundation over two decades ago when his daughter Shelley was diagnosed with leukemia. Since then, he has received an MBE for his charity work, and in 2014, the Dreammaker Foundation became a registered charity.
Amy was thrilled that Menzel suggested they sing “Let It Go” together, and even more so when Menzel suggested a career in the arts.
Menzel reportedly told her, “You have a higher voice than me and you should definitely pursue singing.”
After the meeting, Amy said that she was going to share what happened at their meeting with her friends.
“It was exciting and Idina was ?so nice. My friends won’t believe me.”
“Let It Go” has become an anthem almost since the moment Frozen hit theatres, and the movie itself has become one of the biggest animated hits of all time, between the cinematic and DVD releases of the film. “Let It Go” won an Oscar at the 2014 awards ceremony and has garnered over 128 million YouTube views and nearly 19 million Spotify streams. The song does not appear to be going anywhere anytime soon either. Over two years since the film’s release, Frozen continues to be immensely popular among kids and adults alike, with news of Frozen 2 and the release of Frozen Fever with the live-action Cinderella this year only serving to further propel the movie’s popularity into the stratosphere.
One thing is certain: Young Amy Carmichael will be carrying the memory of her visit — and her duet — with Idina Menzel for years to come, and she won’t be able to let it go even when she is singing the song in honor of her friend this November.
[Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images]
