Charlotte Awbery, who went viral after she belted out “Shallow” in a London subway station earlier this year, has finally released her version of the Lady Gaga/Bradley Cooper song.
Awbery was one of two professional singers among several other people who were asked to “finish the lyrics” by Kevin Freshwater, a self-described “social media prankster, entertainer and purveyor of comic content” who has previously been commissioned by big brands like Sony and Lipton to create viral content.
Awbery and Stephen Barry (who sang a verse from Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”) were the only ones in the video who were stopped by Freshwater at the bottom of a set of stairs in the subway station. Appearing caught off-guard, each started singing tentatively before perfectly delivering a verse and walking away.
(In February, Barry declined to respond when asked by iHeartRadio.ca to confirm that the video was staged. A scheduled interview with Awbery was then cancelled by her publicist.)
Awbery appeared on a March episode of Ellen, where she was conspicuously not asked if the video was staged. Host Ellen DeGeneres said: “I think a lot of people think that was staged. It was not staged.” Awbery said only “I was literally on the way to meet my friend” and then quickly changed the subject.
In a subsequent appearance on UK talk show Lorraine, Awbery was asked if she knew what was happening when she was approached. ”No, I literally didn’t,” she replied. “It was random. It was mad. And thankfully I knew the song.”
On Friday – seven months after going viral – Awbery premiered a video for her cover of “Shallow.” At the end, she recreates her moment in the subway station. Watch the video below: