"My Name is Jon Daker" is an internet

viral video A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander Haupt ...

of an Easter recital at First United Methodist Church in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

, in 1990 that was broadcast as part of a

public access TV Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...

program on

WTVP WTVP (channel 47) is a PBS member television station in Peoria, Illinois, United States, owned by the Illinois Valley Public Telecommunications Corporation. The station's studios are located on State Street in downtown Peoria, and its transmitter ...

. It has been viewed more than 5 million times on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. In the video, an amateur singer, Jon Daker, is accompanied by a pianist as he sings renditions of "

Christ the Lord Is Risen Today "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" is a Christian hymn associated with Easter. Most of the stanzas were written by Charles Wesley, and the hymn appeared under the title "Hymn for Easter Day" in ''Hymns and Sacred Poems'' by Charles and John Wes ...

" and "

That's Amore "That's Amore" is a 1953 song by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Jack Brooks, and became a major hit and signature song for Dean Martin, who first recorded and released it that year. ''Amore'' () means "love" in Italian. History The song ...

." While performing he uses unusual phrasing, sings in a pseudo-operatic voice, and forgets song lyrics.

Background

The video was uploaded to

and EBaum's World in 2006. Daker's first name was misspelled in the original subtitles, so he is sometimes referred to as "John Daker." Jon Graham Daker was born November 19, 1939, in Peoria. Daker grew up on the West Bluff and attended Peoria High School, earning his GED later. He enjoyed music and played the harmonica. He died on February 20, 2022. The recital was a public access program on WTVP. The organist at First United Methodist Church, Reva Singley Cooper Unsicker, was the accompanist. Unsicker taught voice, piano, and organ lessons until her death in 1995. There are several other video clips from the recital of different singers, a six-person choir, and a comedian. George Stanton, Bob Spencer, Margie Hicks, and others sang. Pearl Gross delivered a comedic set. There are rumors of other appearances on local TV, but the videos are unconfirmed or unavailable. On November 17, 2014, a video entitled "JOHN DAKER STRIKES AGAIN" was posted, depicting Daker at a local Ford dealership. The YouTube short obtained over 131,000 views. The user posted two subsequent videos on November 25, 2014 and April 24, 2015.

Cultural impact

In 2006 the video was featured on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

's show ''

Web Junk 20 ''Web Junk 20'' is an American television program in which VH1 and iFilm collaborate to highlight the twenty funniest and most interesting clips collected from the Internet that week. The show was last hosted by comedian Aries Spears. Patrice O ...

.'' In 2016, the

Blue Man Group Blue Man Group is an American performance art company formed in 1987. It was purchased in July 2017 by the Canadian company Cirque du Soleil. Blue Man Group is known for its stage productions, which incorporate many kinds of music and art, bot ...

, who are fans of Daker, invited him to meet with them backstage when they were playing a show in Peoria. In 2016, Bill Burr did a segment on his

Monday Morning Podcast ''Monday Morning Podcast'' is a twice weekly comedy podcast hosted by American comedian, actor and celebrity podcaster Bill Burr. It was independently recorded from May 2007 until October 2012, when it became a part of the All Things Comedy pod ...

about the video. Heather Schopp befriended Daker when she was volunteering to play piano at the assisted living facility where he lived in November 2018. She received permission from Daker's niece to post updates on a fan page, The John Daker Experience, with over 2,900 followers. Schopp wrote, "He was aware of it, and he assumed the best of all of us. He had no interest in any more details, in benefiting monetarily from his fame, in telling others about it. It was enough for him to know he was loved, and to continue making people laugh."

References

{{reflist Viral videos People from Peoria, Illinois