If you’ve never heard of “Harmonica Pete”, then I can suggest searching his name on YouTube. Born Peter B. DuPré, he was stationed in England as a medic for the United States Army during the course of World War II.
Today, all those many decades later, he’s a 96-year-old who made a stir on social media due to an absolutely stunning rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner.
Back in 2019, Pete was given the honor of being asked to perform the US National Anthem before a Memorial Day weekend soccer match between the US and Mexico women’s teams.
WWII Peter donned a US soccer shirt for the occasion, as well as a “World War II Veteran” hat decorated by pins and medals.
Now, we feel the need to add that this was no ordinary performance. How could it be? “Harmonica Pete” was playing to a crowd of 26,000!
Yet the old hand rose to the occasion, soon filling the arena with beautifully sweet notes. What’s more, Peter remains incredibly humble regarding his obvious talent with a harmonica.
Needless to say, Peter’s performance was a hair-raiser, and quickly went viral online, racking up some nine million views across both Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter).
As for his heroics on the harmonica, Peter remained characteristically nonchalant. “This was just the simple ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ the way it was written, and played the way it was meant to be played,” he said.
Watch “Harmonica Pete” in action in the video below:
This story might be a few years old now, but I think Peter’s incredible talent still deserves to be on show for the rest of the world! If you found this article interesting, check out the one below for more great content:
