+
Culture

The viral homeless opera singer just made her debut stage performance and it's incredible

The viral homeless opera singer just made her debut stage performance and it's incredible
LAPD

Emily Zamourka's life has changed drastically since she was first discovered singing opera in a subway station in Los Angeles.

The 52-year-old, who'd been living on the streets, found overnight fame after an LAPD officer recorded her performance of Giacomo Puccini's "O mio babbino caro" on the platform Sept. 26.

Struck by her incredible voice, the officer captured the moment at the Wilshire and Normandie Purple Line station, according to Good News Network, and uploaded it to Twitter where it quickly became a viral sensation.

"4 million people call LA home. 4 million stories. 4 million voices...sometimes you just have to stop and listen to one, to hear something beautiful," the LAPD wrote.

Zamourka's new-found popularity opened the door to her first on-stage singing debut after Los Angeles Councilmember Joe Buscaino invited her to perform at a celebration of Los Angeles' new Little Italy on Saturday, CNN reports.

"I didn't have much time to practice, so I'm just gonna sing the same song I sang on the subway...That ok with you?" Zamourka asked the audience.

She's also been offered a record deal by Grammy-nominated music producer Joel Diamond. "Emily's story is what dreams are made of," Diamond told CNN. "And I never turn my back on a dream."

"I don't even know what's happening," Zamourka told reporters after her debut performance. "It's so much, so fast."

Surprisingly, she's had no formal vocal training, but is a classically trained pianist and violinist, ABC 7 reports.

RELATED: A tragically beautiful video captures Parisians singing hymns as they watch Notre Dame burn

"You know why I do it in the subway is because it sounds so great," she said.

Zamourka used to play her violin around the city to make money until someone stole the $10,000 instrument three years ago. After a serious health challenge and the financial setback, she ended up on the street.

"That's when I became homeless when I could not actually pay any of my bills and could not pay any more of my rent." At the time, she told reporters she was sleeping on cardboard in a parking lot.

When she found out the subway video of her had become so popular, she said she just wanted to return to playing her music so she can get back on her feet.

"I will be so grateful to anyone who is trying to help me get off the streets and to have my own place and my instrument," Zamourka said.

Many locals commented on the video, sharing their own stories of interactions with Zamourka.

RELATED: When someone on the street asks you for money, what's your answer? This app can help.

"I've seen her for years on the Metro. I heard her once singing 'Ave Maria' and thought it was a radio at first. Everyone has a story...this woman does too. I don't know why she's been homeless all these years, but she's a human being...that's all that matters," one person wrote.

"She's from Glendale. She loves animals and sings Like a Bird. She is multi-talented and very friendly and kind. Her name is Emily," another person wrote.

Others, however, took the video as a chance to call out the homelessness crisis in Southern California.

Currently, there are more than 58,900 Angeleños experiencing homelessness, according to CNN. The situation is so bad, some officials are calling for it to be declared a state of emergency.

But with things looking up for Zamourka, hopefully there will soon be one less person having to live on the street.

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Joy

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

The sweet-faced, loveable Labrador Retriever is no longer America’s favorite dog breed. The breed best known for having a heart of gold has been replaced by the smaller, more urban-friendly French Bulldog.

According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

Keep ReadingShow less

PeacefulBarb's "7 Things Adult Children May Need to Hear"

Just like there are no hard-set rules for raising children, there is no perfect guidebook on how to be a supportive parent to an older child. As parents watch their kids grow and start their own families, it can be hard for them to navigate the new role they have in their lives.

That’s why Barb Schmidt, who goes by PeacefulBarb on TikTok, shared her list of the ‘7 Things Adult Children May Need to Hear’ from their parents. It’s a great starting point for parents who aren’t sure what their older children need.

Schmidt is an international best-selling author, sought-after motivational speaker, mindset coach and mindfulness teacher.

Here’s her list:

Keep ReadingShow less

Drew Barrymore speaks during the FLOWER Beauty launch at Westfield Parramatta on April 13, 2019, in Sydney, Australia.

Drew Barrymore, 48, has been in the public consciousness since she starred as Gertie in 1982’s mega-blockbuster, “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” a performance that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. So, it makes sense that many people of a certain age feel as if they’ve grown up with her.

Now, she’s an even more significant part of people’s lives as the host of “The Drew Barrymore Show,” which runs every weekday on CBS.

On May 25, the show’s Instagram page posted a touching video of an off-the-cuff moment between Barrymore and a fan during a taping of her show. In the clip, Barrymore realizes that someone in the audience is crying. So, instead of ignoring the fan, she jumps to action to see what is the matter.

Keep ReadingShow less
Education

Nurse explains how babies breathe in utero and the internet is amazed

A new mom asked how babies practice breathing, and Nurse Jen delivered an answer that's blowing people's minds.

Nurse explains how babies breathe in utero.

There are so many questions out there that we don't realize we want to know the answers to until someone else asks. Once the question is in the vicinity of our ear holes, suddenly we're like, "Oh, yeah. How does that work?" That's pretty much how this TikTok video went for a lot of viewers, myself included.

I have had four (yes, four) children exit my body, and it never dawned on me to ask further than the initial question of how babies breathe in there. It's a question that most new moms either don't think to ask or ask only once and get a similar answer to the one I received, which is that they take in oxygen via their umbilical cord connected to the placenta, so they don't need to breathe in the traditional way we think of until after birth.

But when a new mom asked the people of the internet how her unborn baby was able to practice breathing without drowning, Jen Hamilton, an OB nurse, decided to answer in a video.

Keep ReadingShow less

A mother with a megaphone goes on strike.

Every parent knows that sometimes their kids, especially teenagers, can say things in the heat of the moment they don’t really mean. But the mother at the center of this story took her teenage son’s outburst seriously and turned it into an opportunity to teach him a lesson. The question is, did she go too far to make a point?

A 35-year-old mom wanted to learn if she had been too hard on her 14-year-old son, so she shared her story on Reddit’s AITA subforum (we've abbreviated the forum's name to avoid printing foul language). AITA is where people vote on whether the poster was right or wrong in how they handled a situation.

“Lately, he has been acting out a little at home and school, so I decided to sit him down to try and figure out what was happening,” the mother wrote in a post that received over 800 comments. She said that the boy had been cursing out his parents as well as his teacher.

Keep ReadingShow less

Dad gives a how-to on "gentle parenting with malicious intent."

By now, everyone has heard of gentle parenting. Even if you're not quite sure what it is, you've heard the phrase. Parents that use this style of parenting set boundaries with their children but with thorough explanations and a focus on healthy emotional development. One dad decided to spin the gentle parenting trend by implementing "gentle parenting with malicious intent" for his older children.

You may be wondering how one gentle parents with malicious intent. No worries, the dad uploaded a now-viral clip to TikTok, where it has over 4 million views, to explain. In the clip, "Ginger Jack" has the camera on himself as he talks to his kids about completing their chores without attitudes…and that's where the twist comes in.

"New rule. Whenever one of you starts giving me attitude, I'm going to start hitting on mom," the dad says before speaking to his partner. "Hey there. sugar. How you doing, baby girl? How do you feel about another child? I could rub your ankles real good." He then makes what can only be described as an attempt at a sexy cat noise.

Keep ReadingShow less