An Irish priest has become an overnight internet singing sensation after a video of him singing a surprise song during a wedding was uploaded to YouTube and went viral in a few hours.
The video of Fr. Ray Kelly’s goose bump-worthy performance by the altar has since its original upload on April 7 managed to become the top video on the YouTube Ireland page and has raked in over two million (7 million and counting now!) views at the time of filing of this report.
Fr. Ray Kelly’s customized rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” at the wedding of Chris and Leah O’Kane on April 5, 2014 evoked surprised reactions from the bride and groom as well as the people assembled for the ceremony.
The interesting incident happened at the town of Oldcastle located northwest of Dublin when Fr. Ray Kelly started the ceremony with the words; “We join together here today, to help two people on their way, as Leah and Chris start their life together.” He then goes on to sing “Hallelujah” whilst also adding some of his own customized set of lyrics that amuses the people gathered there.
As it turns out, the couple for whom the song was sung were not locals and had chosen the venue as their reception was at a nearby hotel. According to the BBC , the couple had no idea that something of this sort was going to happen. “Normally local people know I sing at wedding, funerals or when I’m asked, but they didn’t know – the bride Leah is from Dublin and the groom Chris is from Cookstown in County Tyrone, Father Kelly told the BBC . The bride was given a slight hint about Fr. Kelly singing for them – but it was unlikely that she took it seriously. The couple has since then already left for Mexico for their honeymoon and have not been told that their video has went viral
Fr. Ray Kelly received a well-deserved standing ovation after his performance. It was later revealed that he is a trained singer and is currently working on his third album.
Do you think Fr. Ray Kelly should be doing more of such singing in the future as well? Also let us know what you think about his performance in the video above!
[Image via YouTube]
