Woman with dementia is lighting up pop charts with a pitch-perfect tune

An uplifting story of how music can penetrate to the depths of our being and be brought forth, even when one can't remember anything else. (~.~)  You can hear the song at this link: https://youtu.be/PvNwEsFn1So

A beautiful documentary, Alive Inside, is available to view on Amazon Prime, telling similar stories of other dementia patients who have been brought back to life (almost literally) with music.  You can view this documentary at: https://www.amazon.com/Alive-Inside-Michael-Rossato-Bennett/dp/B079XW5GHL/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Alive+Inside+DVD&qid=1570166607&sr=8-1

'Music takes her back to her happy place': A woman with dementia is lighting up the pop charts with a pitch-perfect tune

By Cathy Free 

Jan. 25, 2020 at 4:00 a.m. PST

A few days after Margaret Mackie, who suffers from dementia, moved into a Scottish care center, food server Jamie Lee Morley walked past the lounge one afternoon and heard a lovely refrain.

For a moment, he wondered if somebody had left the radio on. But then he spotted Mackie, 83, singing a pitch-perfect version of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love."

"I was stunned," recalled Morley, 31. "I've loved singing and music since I was a little lad, and I could just tell that Margaret did, too. Her voice is amazing."

Morley, who has worked at the Northcare Suites Care Home in Edinburgh since it opened last fall, began singing regular duets with Mackie in the dining room and hallways. A video of one of their songs has been viewed thousands of times since it was posted online this month.

Margaret Mackie relaxes in the studio after recording "My Way" with Jamie Lee Morley in Edinburgh this month. (Margaret Mackie relaxes in the studio after recording "My Way" with Jamie Lee Morley in Edinburgh this month. Northcare Suites Care Home)

The video features the pair singing Frank Sinatra's "My Way," which brought them a standing ovation at the care center when they performed it at the residents' Christmas party last month.

After the video of their duet was posted, Morley and Mackie also recorded a single of "My Way," which is lighting up the pop charts in the United Kingdom and beyond, with proceeds benefiting the Alzheimer's Society and Dementia U.K. The track is No. 6 on the U.K.'s Amazon download chart and at one point reached No. 27 on iTunes' Top 40 in the U.K., above stars such as Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Ed Sheeran.

"We've been blown away by the incredible response," said Morley, a part-time singer who decided to sing "My Way" with Mackie in honor of his grandfather, who died of complications from Alzheimer's in 2018. The song also was played at his funeral.

"Overnight, things took off and just kept going," he said. "I've had people reach out from all over the world to say that the video has touched them."

Mackie, a former whisky distillery worker who has advanced dementia and rarely remembers one day from the next, moved to the nursing home last October from another care center, according to Jordan Simpson, manager of Northcare Suites. Although she doesn't always remember Morley and other caregivers, she never forgets the words to her favorite songs, Simpson said.

Jamie Lee Morley and Margaret Mackie at the recording session of "My Way" in an Edinburgh studio earlier this month. (Jamie Lee Morley and Margaret Mackie at the recording session of "My Way" in an Edinburgh studio earlier this month. Northcare Suites Care Home)