Why Is This Viral? Bartender Sings Radiohead's 'Creep'

Meet Joe Ardizzone, the latest ephemeral superstar of the web. His claim to fame: the following video that shows him doing a lounge act rendition of the early 1990s Radiohead hit “Creep.”

The clip was uploaded to YouTube by Cody Littlewood, who writes that he was sitting at Brandy’s Piano Bar on New York City’s Upper East Side when Ardizzone took the microphone.

“He had been behind the bar working a full shift and shouting over the noise for several hours at least,” Littlewood wrote in the video description.

The video has been watched close to 140,000 times since it was first posted on YouTube. The view count was also more than likely aided by the fact that Littlewood posted it on Reddit, where it jumped to the top of the social news site’s video section.

Here’s the thing, though. Why? Why is the Internet — specifically Reddit, the de facto tastemakers of what becomes popular online — blowing its load over a guy whose job is to be really good at singing? Could they not find an adorable cat GIF to amuse the digital masses?

Then again, what do I know? I’m just a weirdo who clearly doesn’t belong here.

Fidel Martinez is an editor at Fusion.net. He’s also a Texas native and a lifelong El Tri fan.