Video of Brummie revellers performing ‘Killing Me Softly’ in city centre street goes viral

A video of random Brummies breaking into song to perform ‘Killing Me Softly’ in the city centre streets is going viral after being shared across social media.

Posted to Twitter last night (29 January) at 11.08am, the short clip showing revellers and passers-by joining in with an impromptu rendition of the hit song – which was being played on a speaker system by a busker outside New Street Station – has been shared thousands of times.

Around 20 people are shown dancing to the song while many others help belt out the classic number to boost the special moment.

The video is believed to have been filmed last night and was initially posted to Twitter by social media user Luke, who goes by the online handle @LSwingz. Luke’s post was accompanied with “Birmingham. What a city” and a set of heart-eyes emojis.

The video was also retweeted by British sommelier and former boyband member Ritchie Neville. The 42-year-old former member of boyband 5ive from Bromsgrove shared the clip this morning, accompanied with the caption “Yes, just yes #Birmingham”, in a tweet that has since been shared over 200 times and liked by over 1,900 people.

The original tweet by Luke has accumulated over 2,000 retweets and over 11,000 likes, delighting online users who have been describing it as “bostin” and “class”.

Twitter user Geoff wrote, “Nice to see people having fun that what life should be about instead of punch ups good old fashion knees up” while Dale commented, “We would defo missed the train if we bumped into this”.

The hugely successful and well-known single ‘Killing Me Softly’ was composed in 1971 by Charles Fox with lyrics by Norman Gimbel, and became a massive hit when performed by Roberta Flack in 1973, and then a global success once again when performed and released in 1996 by the Fugees, with Lauryn Hill on lead vocals.

In a second clip posted by Luke from the same location – the corner of Navigation Street and Stephenson Street – members of the public and late-night clubbers can be seen following up ‘Killing Me Softly’ with a mass singalong of Alicia Keys’ 2004 hit ‘If I Ain’t Got You’.

The happy crowd are shown reciting the lyrics “Some people want it all, But I don’t want nothing at all, If it ain’t you, baby, If I ain’t got you, baby, Some people want diamond rings, Some just want everything, But everything means nothing, If I ain’t got you, yeah.”

It isn’t the first time Brummies have gone viral for instigating a mass singalong. In 2017, local residents came together outside Birmingham Cathedral to perform Toto hit ‘Africa‘ (watch here); and in 2018, they gathered to belt out Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody‘ (watch here).

WATCH | Brummies belt out ‘Killing Me Softly’ in viral video: