After Phil Collins released one of his best hits, “In the Air Tonight” back in the ’80s, the timeless classic has made its way back up the charts yet again 39 years later—thanks to Youtube twins Fred and Tim Williams.
Tim and Fred, 22-year-old twins, known for their Youtube channel “TwinsthenewTrend,” have recently gained a following on Youtube for taking videos of their reactions to old songs for the first time. Some of their more popular videos feature songs released in pre-2000, including “Jolene” by Janice Joplene and “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston, which have over half a million views each.
But it’s their reaction to Phil Collins’ hit song “In the Air Tonight” that went viral over the past few weeks. The video not only has over 5 million views on Youtube, but it also put the song back in the top charts after its release decades ago.
Tim said in the video, “That was cold, that was cold how he did that. I ain’t gonna lie, Phil, you got me on that,” and “Ya’ll didn’t prepare us for that.”
Fred continued saying “I ain’t never seen nobody drop a beat three minutes into a song!” and “He killed it!… That’s unique.”
The genuine reaction from the pair also brought back a lot of joy from longtime fans of the song.
This has gone viral, but I’m posting anyway ‘cause it makes me smile. And if you haven’t seen it yet, maybe it’ll make you smile. And Phil has jumped to the top of iTunes ‘cause new folks are discovering and old folk are remembering how dope this song is. pic.twitter.com/fVBnedJP91
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) August 8, 2020
The way they both push back into their chairs on that drop. That’s exactly how it feels to listen to that song for the first time. I can’t stop watching them enjoy it!
— Shanna Shrum (@LifeofthePahty) August 8, 2020
I was in a treatment center 3 years ago. Me and my fellow patients were in the back yard singing this song a capella. (With drum sounds.) Right when we finished, the next door neighbor blasted the song on his stereo for us to hear. God Bless Phil Collins and anyone who loves him.
— FreshIsFresh (@FreshIsFresh) August 8, 2020
The video’s success even made its way to live television which was featured on CNN.
Just seen them featured on CNN pic.twitter.com/yhW1ZnYkBJ
— Angela Lewis (@GlobalMediaPhD) August 8, 2020
Their reaction has been viewed over 4.5 million times on Youtube and Phil Collin’s hit song climbed it’s way up to # 2 on the iTunes Charts after the brothers posted the video on July 28. Their channel has also gained over 240,000 subscribers from the past few months, with 20,000 coming from the past week. According to The Rolling Stones, 4,600 digital copies were also sold after the video went viral, as compared to the couple of hundred from previous weeks.
POP! Creator Community / Jose Rafael Santamaria