An isolation-inspired charity single made by a Wigan NHS worker entered the UK iTunes chart just hours after being released.
“Covid-19 (Fish Finger Butty)”, by Ryan-Paul Mario Barton, reached number 35 in the charts when it was released on April 17 - beating the likes of megastars Dua Lipa and Lewis Capaldi.
The medical records clerk, who works at Leigh Infirmary, said the inspiration behind the song came from playing with his nine-month-old son in quarantine.
The lyrics include everyday happenings of lockdown life, including watching Antiques Roadshow and making fish finger butties.
The song was posted to Facebook where it soon went viral, racking up a total 450k views.
The 29-year-old, of Lowton, said he was “overwhelmed” by the response and was encouraged to release the single on iTunes – with all proceeds going to the NHS.
Ryan, frontman of the reggae group Jeramiah Ferrari, said: “I’ve been working during isolation but there was a period where I had to quarantine because my wife was showing symptoms.
“I was playing with my son Sunny singing funny songs and dancing and I ended up making this chorus, I thought it was quite catchy.
“I showed my wife and she thought it was really good, she said I should put it on Facebook.
“It got a huge reaction when I posted it, it blew up. It was really connecting with people.
“It was just brilliant. It’s quite overwhelming because it was such a silly thing, I wasn’t expecting it to have such a big impact.
“I really appreciate it and hope people buy the track and support the NHS when we need it most.”
“Covid-19 (Fish Finger Butty)" is available to pre-order on iTunes now ahead of its release tomorrow on Monday, April 20.
The track is available to download by clicking the link here.
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