71-Year-Old DJ Goes Viral, Encourages Other Aged Pros to ‘Keep Going’
For one Maine man, it appears age is just a number. Brian Phoenix, 71, of Saco, Maine, recently went viral for continuing to work as a DJ and play music off of CDs after working in the field for 40 years According to “…
For one Maine man, it appears age is just a number.
Brian Phoenix, 71, of Saco, Maine, recently went viral for continuing to work as a DJ and play music off of CDs after working in the field for 40 years
According to “Good Morning America” (GMA), video footage of Phoenix working at an Oct. 7 wedding was shared on TikToc by event guest Miranda Dolph.
She captioned the clip, “Went to a wedding and they had the cutest old DJ who used his CD collection for all the music ?”
Dolph to “GMA,” “When I looked over, I could see him digging through the CD collection and lining up the next songs and that’s what really struck me, and I think struck others, was just, you know, from all the weddings I’ve been at, I usually just see people using playlists and computers and not necessarily digging through all the CDs.”
She also added, “Watching Brian DJ, I thought it was inspiring for him to be doing what he loves to do.”
“When I spoke with him after the video took off, it was very clear to me how passionate he is about DJing, and that that’s why he does it — and to be honest, his message just made me happy, to know that that’s what he’s doing,” Dolph said.
Phoenix was also featured in a “GMA” video clip where he stated, “I never knew that being 71 was so unusual and I didn’t know that playing CDs was all that unusual. Apparently.”
“It’s not like I was saving a baby from a burning building or ‘Oh my God, look at that. The roof was caving in and he lifted it back up.’ I’m just standing there. So, I find that amazing,” Phoenix told “Good Morning America.” “It’s all I ever wanted to do — it’s my entire dream, my entire life.”
“To everybody that’s older, thinking about retirement where you say, ‘I still like what I do and I’m pretty good at it,’ keep going. Keep going. Do what you feel,” he said.
He also described his love of his job, stating, “I love playing at weddings. If you do something and you love doing it, and you’re getting older, keep doing it. Don’t stop ‘cause someone else said so.”
“You dance to your own music. If you want to keep going, keep going,” he said.