Skip to content

87-year-old Lacombe resident ‘Grandpa Bill’ goes viral on TikTok

Bill Clark’s video has had nearly 300,000 views on the platform
21538556_web1_Screen-Shot-2020-05-13-at-11.17.23-AM
‘Grandpa Bill’ has gone viral on TikTok with nearly 300,000 views. (Image Courtesy: TikTok)

Lacombe resident Bill Clark is now TikTok famous at 87 years young.

Clark amazingly achieved the feat without having a personal TikTok account or access to the Internet at home. His grandson-in-law Matt Mychajliv helped Bill reach nearly 300,000 people across the world on the platform by uploading a video of Clark singing and dancing to Ringo Starr’s “You’re Sixteen”. The video has since been shared on other social media networks.

“Over the years, we have recorded him now and then and we figured we’d start making some TikToks with him. He has been killin’ it,” Mychajliv said.

@cdnmatt

##foryou ##foryoupage ##lacombe ##canada ##grandpabill ##sing ##singing ##dancing ##covid19 ##quarantine ##positive ##positivevibes ##happydancechallenge

♬ original sound - cdnmatt

Clark said he was very to happy to see the response to his video.

“I am surprised I got so many views. I don’t have a computer here at all, but I keep busy writing a song or two every day. I am keeping pretty busy,” he said.

Mychajliv and his wife Sarah have been printing off the positive comments on the video from all over the world and bringing them to Clark.

“Matt printed off a lot of the papers with what they said and where they came from. It is really nice to see that. I didn’t realize you could reach so many people overseas with a short little number like that,” Clark said.

@cdnmatt

Keeping everybody entertained always ##foryou ##fyp ##grandpabill ##lacombe ##singing ##dancing ##quarantine ##covid19 ##challenge ##tiktok @ellen ##ellen

♬ original sound - cdnmatt

Mychajliv said he didn’t expect so many views but knew that Grandpa Bill could be a hit online.

“We have always said that Bill could have his own YouTube channel. Anytime we have been at his house, he is usually telling someone a joke, singing and dancing,” he said.

Clark said he has always loved entertaining people.

“I used to take a few tap dancing lessons when I was younger and now I have watched a few guys on TV and memorized a few of their steps. It makes me very happy and I am hoping to do a one-man show to bring in food to the Food Bank sometime,” he said.

The Mychajlivs and Clark say they are going to continue making TikTok videos, the most recent being a 1949 song by Frankie Laine.

@cdnmatt

##foryou ##fyp ##foryoupage ##grandpabill ##lacombe ##canada ##alberta ##usa ##muletrain ##quarantine ##covid19 ##ellen

♬ original sound - cdnmatt

“Some of his stuff is longer. On YouTube, we may be able to put his longer stuff on. Now that he has an audience, I think we need to be a bit better with our production,” Mychajliv he said.

For now, Clark is enjoying people telling him how much they enjoyed his video, with a bank teller and a his pharmacist both recognizing him from the video.

“Sometimes I’ll see people on the street and they will say that they saw me and they say how much they will liked it,” he said

Mychajliv said it is great to see how the video has brightened people’s day

“People have said they watch it every morning and other people are requesting stuff,” he said.



todd.vaughan@lacombeexpress.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter