With all the negative news about COVID-19, it’s important that we remind ourselves to have a little fun. That’s exactly what popular Christian YouTuber Peter Hollens did when he made The Epic Hand Washing Parody, which has gone viral.
His video, which you can watch here, is a compilation of several popular secular songs that he rewrote with lyrics encouraging people to wash their hands and follow the CDC’s coronavirus guidelines. Hollens’ press agent calls him an American entrepreneur, educator and a classically trained vocal artist. He regularly posts content on YouTube and Facebook and has gotten over a billion views since 2011.
Hollens’ songs about the coronavirus are raising awareness for health and protective measure against the virus but in a fun way. They’re also raising money for the Coronavirus Relief Fund at globalgiving.org. When I asked him what gave him the idea to do this, he said it was a response to the intense anxiety he’s noticing in people who are concerned about the virus.
“So many of my teammates and my peers are feeling the anxiety of the current situation we are in, and we wanted to do something to utilize our platform for good and focus on raising awareness for a charity that is really trying to help the current disaster we’re in,” he says.
“And I truly believe that right now, all of us need levity more than anything. So I thought for the first In my entire career, I would create a parody and focus on hygiene. I think that’s one thing that in this divisive world, we can all agree on that we can do better.”
But it was also a way to help educate people on proper hygiene during this crisis. He says he’s had a “horrific time” getting his 5-year-old to wash his hands correctly and long enough. If you watch the video, you see Hollens is washing his hands in almost every song section. Each section is 20 seconds long and if you watch closely, you’ll see Hollens is actually using the proper hand-washing technique.
“The cool thing is, when I was actually creating this, my son heard a rough mix of it, and he only heard it twice,” he says. “And then my wife sent me a voice memo at work of him singing. … He was actually singing one of the songs with my lyrics that we had rewritten while he was washing his hands. And so I was like, Wow, this actually might do some good.”
On my podcast, Hollens shared details about the proper way to wash hands. Many of us, without realizing it, actually wash our hands improperly. He says it’s crucial to get the thumbs, underneath the fingernails and the backs of our hands.
I’m not only impressed with Hollens’ vocal talent, but I’m also grateful he’s leading the charge in helping people stay healthy during this frightening time. I hope you’ll watch his video, and make sure you listen to my full interview with him. He shares funny behind-the-scenes moments of making the video (including how painful it was to wash his hands for seven hours in one day while filming).
As always, share this article with a friend, and let’s raise awareness for proper hygiene!
Stephen Strang 
