The doctors who made the viral "Imagine" video share their thoughts about how music can help people amid the coronavirus pandemic.
These songs of hope couldn’t have come during a better time.
It was March, back when the world was coming to grips with the devastation brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, that two Mayo Clinic doctors released a video that went viral—in the best sense of the word.
The video of doctors Elvis L. Francois and William Robinson covering “Imagine,” John Lennon’s 1971 ode to world peace, captured the hearts of millions, spreading good vibrations during a particularly dark period.
Robinson, who played piano on the track, said Tuesday during Fortune’s Brainstorm Health digital conference that he had no idea that the soulful cover would become a hit.
“This has been one of the most humbling moments in my entire life,” Robinson said.
Francois, whose expressive voice adds an R&B element to the ballad, said that they conceived the music video as a way to convey the notion that “the humanity is often missing in medicine.”
“Finding a way to bring music to the halls of a hospital is a reminder that music truly is medicine, and it heals people in ways that medicine simply can’t,” Francois said.
Francois also shared the origins of his unique first name, revealing that he is, indeed, named after the “King of Rock and Roll.”
“Yes, my mom is a huge Elvis Presley fan, the kind of person who would name her son Elvis,” Francois said.
Check out the medical duo singing the late Bill Withers’ classic “Lean on Me,” as part of Fortune’s Brainstorm Health conference.
