How pop stars are starting a hand-washing movement on social media to beat coronavirus
You’re probably tired of the social media scolds that fill your feeds with commands to “wash your hands.”
We all know this nagging person — even if the basic message is the sound way to avoid catching the coronavirus.
Their health safety request would probably not fall on deaf ears if only it were more creative. If only it was set to your favorite pop tune.
So, as a public service — and with much appreciation to the clever pop stars like Gloria Gaynor, Neil Diamond and Peter Frampton, among them — here are some of our favorite social media posts set to music.
Gloria Gaynor video
Gaynor, of course, got the hand washing to oldies trend off to a fast and entertaining start about two weeks ago when she turned her 1978 disco hit “I Will Survive” into a hand-washing challenge. More than 760,000 people took her #IWillSurvive Tik Tok post to heart and posted their own hand-washing videos on the platform.
Neil Diamond’s cleaner ‘Caroline’
Neil Diamond, at 79 and retired from the concert stage, became a viral video sensation this week when he rewrote the lyrics to his 1969 hit, “Sweet Caroline,” to fit the COVID-19 scripture and posted his performance on Twitter.
“Hands, washing hands/Reaching out/Don’t touch me/I won’t touch you,” Diamond sings in his warm, friendly baritone while strumming an acoustic guitar before a toasty fire in his home.
Peter Frampton video
Peter Frampton, shorter of hair but not shorn of a sense of humor, pokes fun at the 14:15 length of his Bicentennial-era hit, “Do You Feel Like We Do,” by washing his hands for the entirety of the tune. Don’t fret: Special effects speed the classic rock staple up to a more manageable 90 seconds.
Liam Gallagher video
British pop star Liam Gallagher riffs on several of his Oasis-era hits in a series of Instagram posts that feature him washing his hands to rejiggered versions of “Wonderwall” or “Champagne Supernova.”
‘Just dance,’ says Nicks
Stevie Nicks, meanwhile, told her fans to “just dance, this will pass” on her Twitter post in which the mystical 71-year-old rock goddess also seemed to find healing powers in 26-year-old Harry Styles’ music.
Not sure if that works, but you can dance to Styles’ music and, hey, exercising is good right now to boost your immune system.
Peter Hollens’ pop parody
Some of a certain age may recall those 1970s and ‘80s pop song parodies by Dickie “Mr. Jaws” Goodman and Weird Al Yankovic. Apparently, YouTube star Peter Hollens, 40, must, too, as he’s created “The Epic Hand Washing Parody” video.
The four-minute tune spoofs songs by Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars and others to spread the clean hands message.
South Florida connection
South Florida’s first couple of pop music Gloria and Emilio Estefan also tried to bring the funny when they posted a photo of what a manicure might look like in the age of the coronavirus.
Miami’s Barry Gibb took a moment to get serious, however. He uses his Twitter account to urge his fans to support music therapy programs.
“If you can give anything at all there are so many people that need it. Music is just one way to help heal us all,” he said in his post on Tuesday.
Gibb’s presence was also largely felt in pop culture this week with the passing of country superstar Kenny Rogers. Gibb, with his late brothers Robin and Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees, wrote the Rogers/Dolly Parton duet “Islands in the Stream.”
That crossover hit was written and largely recorded in Miami Beach in 1983 and was one of the most streamed songs this week after Rogers died at 81 on Friday.
Music therapy, indeed.
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 4:34 PM.
