HE’S the disabled lad with a voice to melt the coldest of hearts.
Alfie Draper left a BBCaudience in tears after his touching performance as the Unexpected Star on Michael McIntyre’s Big Show.
The 25-year-old, who was born with cerebral palsy and was told he would never walk or talk, is now being feted by internationally acclaimed tenor Alfie Boe.
But the millions who watched fearless Alfie’s powerful rendition of Born Free on TV last month were not told the full heart-warming story of his incredible journey that led to the West End.
It begins in October 1998, when Ernie and Lulu Draper were told their baby — the youngest of eight children — would never walk and might not even speak.
Alfie defied the odds, chatting constantly before he was a year old then finally taking his first faltering steps at the age of six.
He constantly fell over so farm worker Ernie would regularly take him to the beach where he would not hurt himself toppling on to the soft sand.
At school Alfie was told he would not need to learn to read and write.
But the youngster had a dream — to be a singer.
He recalls one teacher telling him there was more chance of her going into space than Alfie ever having a career in music.
She said the only job he was ever likely to have would be a cleaner.
Alfie, from West Malling, Kent, says: “Their attitude was that because of my disability I should be grateful for any job and not have a dream.
“Ignoring them, I left school and decided I WAS going to be in the music industry. I wanted to be a star, like my hero Sam Smith.”
‘The song freed him – it made me cry’
So Alfie’s mum, Lulu, tracked down Sam Smith’s former singing coach, Anthony Wade — known in the music industry as Dr Voice — and persuaded him to take on her then 14-year-old son.
The Doc says: “This is like a Rocky story, breaking through when all the odds are against you.
“And all the odds were definitely against Alfie but he made a decision — ‘I am not going to be a cerebral palsy sufferer for all my life.
“I’m going to follow a dream. I have a voice’.
“When he first came to me, Alfie wore splints on his legs because doctors had told him he would never walk without them.
“After help from a specialist, he threw them away and now walks normally.
“I realised instantly that despite his disability he had a voice that could one day be incredible.
“Just like I’d believed in Sam Smith, I believed in Alfie.”
For 11 years the pair worked together on that voice, with Alfie often practising for up to five hours a day to strengthen the muscles of his larynx, which had been weakened by his condition.
Dr Voice reveals: “He is one of the most dedicated pupils I have ever had — he does what I ask and he works his butt off.
“He was knocked down all his childhood because of his disability. You imagine going around in his body and kids taking the mickey out of you.
“He has had to confront all of that so he has got hardened and strong with a positive mental attitude.”
Using school books from a young offenders’ institution, Dr Voice taught Alfie to read and write, because “one day you will need to sign autographs”.
And five years ago on a “vision board” Alfie spelled out his future dreams, which included singing on national TV and appearing on This Morning.
Dr Voice, 70, adds: “I get all my pupils to do vision boards. Sam Smith had a picture of Beyonce on his board and four years later he was singing with her in New York’s Madison Square Garden.”
Late last year Dr Voice sat at his keyboard as Alfie sang Born Free in a sound-proof studio in East London.
Immediately, something special happened.
‘Captured the nation’s heart’
Alfie had finally found his true voice.
The Doc says: “I was in tears and behind the glass I could see Alfie was crying, too.
“I said to Alf, ‘This is your story. You are born free, away from cerebral palsy for the first time in your life’.
“The song freed him — it made me cry.”
At that moment he knew Alfie was ready for a big audience and put him forward for the Unexpected Star section on McIntyre’s hit Saturday night show.
When producers picked Alfie, Dr Voice approached Born Free lyric writer Don Black, who not only gave permission but his blessing for Alfie to perform the song, made famous as the title track of the 1966 movie.
The McIntyre show team convinced Chelsea fan Alfie that he was going to take part in a video gaming event centred on football.
During the spoof, he met his football idol, Frank Lampard, initially “controlling” the robotic-acting football star to shoot into the net.
Then, when Alfie scored a goal on his game console, the wall in front of him fell down to reveal he was actually on stage in London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane, where the show is filmed.
With the BBC orchestra accompanying him, Alfie stunned the audience of nearly six million TV viewers with his amazing voice.
Alfie says: “I loved it. I’ve done busking, open mics and all sorts of things.
“I feel like if people are not watching me then I must be doing something wrong.
“In front of a big audience I was not really nervous. I was excited because I know I am here because I worked hard and because I am doing something good.”
After Alfie took his bow on stage, he was swamped with messages on his social media and Dr Voice’s phone never stopped ringing.
His mentor says: “He captured the nation’s heart. I can’t tell you how many people have rung me. People were moved by him.
“So many said, ‘I was sitting with my wife and kids and we were all in tears watching Alfie sing’ because they couldn’t believe what came out of him when he opened his mouth for the first time.”
Alfie adds: “I had a message from the carer of a boy with cerebral palsy.
‘It made me quite emotional’
“He couldn’t speak and he is really struggling. She said she played him Born Free and started to see him speak and trying to sing and it is just unbelievable what music can do. It made me quite emotional when I saw it.”
He has even had messages from disabled people who had stepped back from taking their own life after hearing Alfie belting out Born Free.
And actor and singer Alfie Boe, 50, posted a video on his Instagram of his namesake’s TV performance.
Delighted Alfie recalls: “He said, ‘From one Alfie to another, you have done an amazing job. Well done, mate’.
“I messaged him and thanked him very much. And then he said, ‘I would like to meet you one day’.”
Now Alfie Boe has invited the aspiring star to sing a duet with him during his tour this summer, possibly at Eastbourne in June.
Alfie is rehearsing the song Somewhere from West Side Story to sing alongside his hero.
Boe’s 13-date national tour comes two years after the star bravely revealed he went to “a really dark place” after he and his wife of 18 years, Sarah, split in August 2020.
Dr Voice added: “It is lovely that Alfie Boe has seen the magic in Alfie.
“He also had a time in his life when he was going through things and then he could recognise the spirit of what Alfie is doing.”
Three days after Alfie’s dream TV performance, another of his ambitions came true.
He was back on telly on ITV’s This Morning, and on the way home a fan asked for his autograph.
Alfie signed his name with a flourish.
Now he has one more dream — to make a record of Born Free to bring hope and joy to the world.
But, according to his mentor, the record industry is not interested in a disabled singer with the voice of an angel and courage of a lion.
Dr Voice says: “Alfie isn’t in it for the money — he is into touching hearts and maybe changing lives.
“A management company was really hot to trot when they saw him on McIntyre. It made them all cry.
“Two days later they backtracked and dropped him. Record labels haven’t picked him up because he doesn’t have millions of followers and they can’t make money from him.
“It is sad because touching hearts is more important than making money.”
- Check out our exclusive video at thesun.co.uk where you can see Alfie’s incredible journey with Dr Voice to performing Born Free.
