When 87-year-old Diana wrote a song for her late husband of 63 years, the sweet melody won the hearts of fans worldwide. The Newcastle resident never knew that she could write music until one night, when missing her husband Phil, she sat down and began “dreaming” on the piano. She told the Channel 4 show The Piano that “somehow out of that came a tune. I just went with it and suddenly I found I could write music.” Diana performed her song “Dreams” at Newcastle Station, and 1.5 million viewers tuned in to hear it.

Diana’s performance attracted quite the crowd at the station, and the gentle melodies of “Dreams” captivated the audience. Diana is such a sweetheart, and despite her late start in songwriting, she has quite an ear for melody. The way she told her love story with her husband and her journey into becoming a songwriter made hearing her story quite a moving experience. We love to share unique stories like this, and Diana’s discovery of her songwriting talent is quite the journey!

The Piano uploaded Diana’s performance to YouTube on May 5, 2025. The video made quite the impact on viewers, who added comments such as “The fact that this piece was composed, inspired by her dedication to her husband, brought a lump to my throat. Beautiful piece” and “Wow. 87 and she has found her ‘voice.’ It’s never too late, is it? Thank you YouTube algorithms for bringing this to me.”

Diana’s performance proved to be the second most popular video on The Piano’s YouTube channel. The most popular segment from the show captured an equally compelling story. This video showed the journey of talented 13-year-old pianist Lucy, who is blind and neurodivergent. The Leeds resident performed the complex Frédéric Chopin piece “Nocturne in B-flat Minor Op. 9 No. 1” at her local station. Lucy handled the intricate changes with ease, leaving judges Mika and Lang Lang astounded.

Getting back to the story of Diana, viewers were stoked to see the performance of her first original song was a hit. She performed the song in front of a crowd that included her two children. We are happy to report that Diana was pleased with her performance. She told The Piano that she never believed she was “good enough” on the piano, but thought that with regard to her performance, she thought Phil “would be very proud, and I think he would like it. I think he would love it actually.”