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Digital Extras |
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2006 EPpy Winner -- Best multimedia Providence, R.I., Overcast 48° |
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9.9.2001 00:05
Hope Valley gives its boy wonder his own special day • En route from the Big Apple to Hollywood, Billy Gilman drops by for a parade in his honor. BY ELIZABETH ABBOTT Journal Staff Writer A low-lying junction due west of the University of Rhode Island, Hope Valley is the sort of place fans call funky, an old-fashioned locale with a Mayberry R.F.D. feel, except there's no Mayberry. Yet, not only can you find a famous singer in Hope Valley, he was born and bred here. And yesterday, the people who live around these parts turned out in full force to honor him. Yes, folks, it was Billy Gilman Day in Hope Valley, and hundreds of people lined the streets for a parade that was custom-made to honor their homegrown country music star. The parade lasted more than an hour and included everything from the school bus Billy rode in before he became a national celebrity -- complete with his former bus driver and monitor -- to the Coast Guard Band to dozens of local children, who sang and danced for the singer's amusement. A tired but delighted Gilman, who spent the night before taping a tribute to Michael Jackson in New York City and attending a party at Tavern on the Green until four in the morning, watched the parade from a reviewing stand under a tree. He was flanked by family members, including two sets of grandparents and 9-year-old brother, Colin. Scores of fans tried to get close enough to talk to the 13-year-old, but yellow police tape and several police officers kept them at bay. Among the thwarted were adults calling themselves "Billyheads" who came from cities as far away as New York and Washington to see the young star. "When he passed by on the fire truck I screamed," confessed Amanda Rosenblatt, 14, who came from Attleboro, Mass., for Billy Gilman Day. Like a lot of people watching the parade, Amanda wore a T-shirt with Billy's picture on the front. She also wore a black cowboy hat with a cutout photograph of Billy attached to the crown. Her father, Stuart, drove her to Hope Valley. He's a Billy Gilman fan, too. "People keep wondering what will happen when his voice changes. You can't change talent. You can't change stage presence," Stuart Rosenblatt declared. More than 80 organizations, businesses and youth groups took part in the parade, which was planned to pay tribute to Gilman and his extraordinary success. That achievement includes One Voice , which Gilman recorded before he turned 12. One Voice sold more than a million and a half albums in its first three months. It ranks as the top-selling debut album for any country artist. After One Voice topped the charts, Gilman won an American Music Award for Favorite New Country Artist. He was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Male Country performance. Gilman's follow-up album, Dare to Dream , was a smash, too, selling more than 500,000 copies in the first two months of its release. The singer has performed for President Bush. This morning, he leaves for Los Angeles, where he will tape five episodes of Hollywood Squares and perform in the Hollywood Bowl. "I don't think I've ever heard anyone his age who can sing the way he can," said 44-year-old Peter Cohn, a Washington lawyer and unabashed Billyhead. Another Billyhead, 38-year-old Tom Crowley, of Westchester County, N.Y., said it's not just Gilman's singing that makes him so great. It's his "wholesomeness" and "generosity" as well. "He's a great influence, a great inspiration," Crowley said. Indeed, according to locals, Gilman's astounding success hasn't gone to his head. "Not only is he a great singer, he's very personable," said Mary Tongas, of Carolina, who was watching the parade wearing a T-shirt that said "Billy Gilman 2000" on the front. "You can still talk to him and shake his hand and he'll still talk to you," Tongas said. For his part, Gilman looked and acted like every other 13-year-old boy yesterday. Dressed in a black T-shirt, black sneakers and green pants, he laughed and talked and squirmed in his seat on the reviewing stand. When his fans waved, he waved back and sometimes darted out to hug a friend. Once the parade ended, a contingent of politicians was scheduled to pay tribute to Gilman in speeches at nearby Dow Field, among them U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin and Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty. What did he think of the parade? At a reporter's request, Gilman's manager, Angela Bacari, went behind the yellow police tape to ask him. "He's in awe," she reported back. "He didn't expect this," she said. |
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