Homeless Veteran Performs On The Street, Months Later He's A New Man

Jan 28, 2022 by apost team

In 2015, a viral YouTube video changed Donald Gould’s life. At that time, Gould was homeless in Sarasota, Florida, and was better known by his nickname Boone. The military veteran, who had served in the U.S. Marine Corps., was clearly talented. During his service, he learned to play the clarinet, and after leaving the military, Gould enrolled at Spring Arbor University in Michigan, where he studied music theory.

"I took music theory and ear training, and I had to learn how to play every instrument from the piccolo down to the tuba,” Gould told WWSB. “I can write parts like a handbook."

But Gould ran out of money and wasn’t able to afford tuition. He fell on hard times, struggling with addiction and alcohol. And then his wife died.

"They sat me down, and they told me what had happened, that my wife had passed away, and I just lost it man," he told ABC News.

Because of his substance use, social services took Gould’s 3-year-old son away from him.

“Every day it’s painful,” he said in an interview with WWSB. “There’s not a day that goes by that they took him that I ain’t thought about him.”

Gould made his way to Florida after hitting rock bottom. However, even while homeless and without his family, he continued to be musical. In fact, he began to make a name for himself around town thanks to the “Sarasota Keys” project, which placed pianos around the city for passersby to play.

At first, Gould played the public piano, hoping to earn a few extra bucks. But that instrument ended up changing his life when someone recorded the homeless man as he played Styx’s “Come Sail Away” in 2015.

In just two days, the video of Gould has over 2 million views, according to ABC News.

“We went outside to chat and we saw him playing and it was so phenomenal that I got my phone out to start recording it,” Aurore Henry, the woman who recorded the video, told ABC News in 2015. “Obviously I had no idea this would become such a thing. I put it on Facebook and I saw a few people share it right away.”

Not long after the video went viral — it got picked up by a local ABC affiliate — Henry saw Gould again. She took the opportunity to tell him how suessful the video had been.

“We talked a little bit about where he got his music background, what his life has been like,” she told ABC News. “It was really nice. The look on his face when we told him about the video, someone had already told him they had seen it online, and he just looked stricken. He’s very modest. He was like, ‘Oh you know, that’s really nice. I don’t really know what to think about that.’”

“It’s sad,” Henry added. “(Gould) cleary has some substance abuse problems and whatnot, but (music) still flows out of him.”

It didn’t take long, however, before strangers reached out to help Gould after seeing his video. In 2015, ABC News reported that a local restaurant wanted to give Gould an audition to play at their piano bar.

And once different media outlets got involved, Gould became a national sensation. Inside Edition gave the man a makeover, providing him with a haircut, shave, new clothes and the opportunity to play in front of a live audience.

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Gould also admitted himself into rehab. Shortly thereafter, he got to play the “National Anthem” as the season opener for the San Francisco 49ers.

But that isn’t all. The Washington Post reports that Gould has also been given housing, a scholarship to finish his college degree and a lump sum of $35,000 from donations.

But the sweetest gift of all was likely being able to reunite with his son.

Today, Gould has established himself as a musician — complete with his first album, “Walk on Water,” and a website. 

Gould has also advocated on behalf of the homeless community. Working with the ACLU and other plaintiffs, Gould filed a lawsuit against Sarasota ordinances that criminalize sleeping in public.

“But for the Grace of God, I am here today,” Gould said in an ACLU news release. “I went from playing a piano on the streets of Sarasota three months ago to playing the National Anthem for the 49ers in San Francisco. Not everyone gets the same opportunities that I have. It’s important to me that I do what I can to make things right.”

Local outlet ABC7 caught up with Gould in October 2021, as the musician was back in Sarasota. According to the outlet, Gould had been in Germany for the past four years and was trying to find housing in the Florida area. Gould, who is working on a new album, told the outlet that he plans on auditioning for “America’s Got Talent.”

“It feels good to entertain and make people smile, make them forget about their life, their problems for a few moments anyways,” Gould told ABC7.

Nachdem er sein Leben geändert hatte, revanchierte sich Gould in Sarasota, indem er zu dem Klavier zurückkehrte, mit dem alles begonnen hatte, und das Publikum zu einem Konzert einlud. Der Unterschied in seiner körperlichen Gesundheit und seinem äußeren Erscheinungsbild ist wirklich erstaunlich. Gould lebt jetzt mit seiner neuen Frau in Deutschland. Er hat es auch geschafft, die Musik zu seiner Karriere zu machen, so wie er es sich schon immer erträumt hatte.

What do you think of Donald Gould's incredible journey? Have you followed Gould since 2015? Let us know — and be sure to pass this inspiring story on to others.