At 70 years old, Frank Watkinson never imagined he’d have over a million people listening to him sing. But with nothing more than a guitar, a camera, and raw emotion, this British retiree has quietly become one of YouTube’s most moving voices.
Global (16 May 2025) – Frank Watkinson is a 70-year-old British retiree whose humble, heartfelt acoustic covers have quietly made him a YouTube star. His latest upload, a stripped-down guitar-and-vocal rendition of Blink-182’s classic “I Miss You”, has already racked up hundreds of thousands of views and touched hearts around the globe.
Amazingly, this self-described “old man with a dog” now has well over a million subscribers. Frank himself shrugs off the hype.
“I can’t play the guitar that well and I’m in no way a singer,” he admits, but he “puts them both together” and simply makes “the best of what I’ve got.”
What comes through in every performance is pure honesty and emotion. A winning combination that fans say really moves them.
Frank didn’t grow up dreaming of stardom. He only rediscovered the guitar after retiring. As he tells it, “I bought my first guitar when I was 16” but life got in the way, and he didn’t play seriously for decades. It was only about a decade ago, after finishing work, that he began practicing again. Even then, he was just curious about the internet.
“It was only about five or six years ago that I put a song on YouTube just to see how it worked.”
For the first few years it was just a private hobby. But then one song changed everything.
The turning point came when a friend asked Frank to cover Slipknot’s “Snuff.” He recorded a simple acoustic version with quietly powerful vocals. And overnight, it went viral. The “Snuff” cover was featured in heavy-metal forums and became Frank’s most-played video, adding roughly 200,000 new subscribers to his channel. Suddenly his unassuming home recordings were reaching millions. Frank still can’t quite believe it… he jokes that he’s still “just the old man with a dog walking on the field” and that “nobody knows who I am” in real life. But by then his audience was already hooked on his soul-baring style.
What sets Frank apart is the raw honesty of his performances. He chooses songs that mean something to him, from folk and indie-rock to pop-punk, and plays them in the simplest way he can. One description of his channel called them “heart-torn versions” of unexpected songs. Frank doesn’t try to imitate the original recordings: in his own words, he “dumbs down every cover” because he knows he can’t match the technical skill. Instead, he leans into the feeling.
He tells listeners, “I don’t really like to do songs if I can’t feel something in the song. I like to put myself into the song.”
That sincerity shines through in every note, often giving even well-known tunes a new, haunting character.
Frank’s latest release is a haunting take on Blink-182’s 2004 hit “I Miss You.” Stripped of drums and production, the song becomes a private confession, with Frank’s warm baritone and simple guitar highlighting the lyrics’ longing. He posted the video in early this week and it quickly spread beyond his usual fan circle. Viewers from many countries have commented on how the song feels intimate and sincere. Frank’s grandad persona makes the cover even more poignant. It’s as if the song is being sung personally to each listener.
Fans flocked to the comment section to express how deeply they were moved. One viewer wrote: “For all of the Gen Zs, this is what YouTube used to be like in the beginning.”
Another chuckled, “I was 23 when this song came out and I nearly died thinking I look that old… turns out Frank’s 30 years older than me.”
And many simply gushed love. One longtime supporter declared: “I love you Frank, I love your songs, I love the way you play your guitar, God bless you very much friend.”
Messages like these, funny, loving and tearful all at once, show how Frank’s gentle sincerity has connected people of every age. The comments fill with heart and gratitude, from teenagers discovering the song to older viewers hearing it anew. In a sea of slick production, Frank’s simple performance stands out as genuine and uplifting.
Through it all, Frank remains wonderfully modest. He makes only a little money from the channel and reads every comment himself, “giving each a heart” to show he’s listened. People have even asked him to be their actual grandfather, a request he laughs about, but one he takes to heart.
Frank may still be a “grandad” in his own mind, but to everyone who watches and listens, he’s become a symbol of warmth, joy and the good that can come from simple, heartfelt expression.
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