This schoolboy drummer has some serious style! At Hope Church Memphis’s Christmas concert, youngster Shaun Lloyd stole the whole show with his thunderous percussion chops on “The Little Drummer Boy.” The young drummer, who can’t have been older than 6 or 7, confidently kicked off the viral performance with a thunderous snare drum solo. He then drove the song forward with his beats while Daniel Oppenhuizen and his band provided some gorgeous vocal harmonies.
Young Shaun looks very at ease on stage and seems very aware of what his bandmates are doing – he sure knows how to lock in. The performance is a great watch not only due to Shaun’s snare drum mastery, but also Daniel’s band, who really know how to put on a show. The dual vocal approach works well for the timeless carol, and the orchestral backing together with the big drums makes for quite the epic arrangement. The Music Man has to say that this young drumming talent is sure going places!
When Hope Church Memphis uploaded their take of “The Little Drummer Boy” to YouTube, it drew 2.6 million views. Fans commented on the performance on the church’s Facebook, adding comments such as “This was awesome! Even better in person! Great job!” and “That little boy is very talented… I see a music career in his future.” Viewers also noted that Shaun was the hit of the whole service.
Shaun was such a big hit that Hope Church Memphis just had to bring him back to reprise his viral performance. The original cut of “The Little Drummer Boy” was delivered in 2021, and Shaun returned for another performance in time for Christmas 2023. Both videos went viral, and the 2021 and 2023 performances are now the most popular and second most popular uploads to the Hope Church Memphis YouTube channel, respectively.
“The Little Drummer Boy” is a carol that was written in 1941 by American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis. The Music Man readers might be interested to hear that the song was first recorded by the Austrian singing group The Trapp Family, who later inspired the hit film The Sound of Music. The 1958 recording of “The Little Drummer Boy” by the Harry Simeone Chorale also contributed significantly to the popularity of the song. Critics have noted the carol shares similarities to the traditional Czech carol “Hajej, nynej, Ježíšku,” which was written in the form of a lullaby for baby Jesus.