Cormac Thompson, 11, releases album after label Bocelli spotted his lockdown song for Grandma

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n An 11-year-old schoolboy who sang for his grandmother on the internet during the lockout released his first album after being spotted by a prestigious label.

Cormac Thompson, from Darwen in Lancashire, uploaded a cover of his ‘nanny’ favorite song, Danny Boy, to YouTube after his iPad camera crashed, interrupting their weekly video calls.

Cormac, who enjoys Fortnite and Minecraft video games in his spare time, had not been able to see his maternal grandparents, who live in Northern Ireland, since last Christmas due to the pandemic.

His version of Danny Boy was also noticed by Decca Records, the home of Katherine Jenkins and Andrea Bocelli, who signed a deal with him for a 15-song album called Hear My Voice.

Cormac said his grandmother, Colleen Morrison, cried “tears of happiness” when she saw her performance on YouTube for the first time.

He said, “I asked mom what the nanny’s favorite song was because I wanted to learn it, if it was easy enough.

“We wanted it to be a surprise, so we recorded it on YouTube, then we told her to go to YouTube and find me, just like Decca, and she loved it.

“She’s not the most tech savvy person. She had to go on her laptop.

“Normally she likes to spend a lot of time on her iPad, but she fell asleep with it on her lap – we used to FaceTime quite regularly – but the iPad fell off her lap and crashed.

“So we couldn’t use that for FaceTime and our regular weekly calls and sing for her.

“But she had her laptop, so we did it on YouTube on the laptop instead. Now she knows how to access it very well.

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Cormac Thompson with his grandmother Colleen Morrison.

/ PA)

Cormac started work on the album at Metropolis Studios in London, where stars like Queen, U2 and Adele recorded, but was asked to keep the news a secret until the first single was released in mid-October. .

“It was pretty hard to keep it a secret as you might expect because it’s a big secret to keep on a little boy’s shoulders,” he said.

“It was pretty funny because a boy came up to me and I said, ‘The only thing you’re good at is being strong’ or something like that.

“And he said, ‘You’re just little and the only thing you’re good at is singing and it’s not going to get you anywhere in life’ and I was like ‘Go!'”

Her mother, Alison Morrison, said she initially thought the Decca Records email was a joke.

Cormac has since been applauded by Aled Jones for his portrayal of Walking In The Air, performed by the Welshman as a child.

Hear My Voice by Cormac is now available on Decca Records.

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