$60,000 Raised In Hours For Airport Piano Player On Dialysis

ATLANTA, GA — A piano player whose skills have soothed countless travelers at one of the world’s busiest airports for the past seven years got $60,000 in tips in just a few hours after a motivational speaker was inspired by his skills.

“I love this job,” Tonee Carter, the piano player at the corner of Concourse A at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, told FOX-19 in Atlanta. “People love live music. They’ve had a weary travel day. They’re not expecting this, and it changes everything.”

Quite a bit changed for Carter, who is on dialysis, when he was noticed by Carlos Whittaker, an author and motivational speaker who heard Carter play the piano during a recent stopover at the airport.

“The second he told me he’s on dialysis nine hours a night, wakes up every morning and plays the piano for four hours, I said, ‘This brother is about to get a big tip,’” Whittaker told FOX-19.

Whittaker shared a video clip of the airport piano player on his Instagram account, adding a callout for virtual tips. Within hours, more than $40,000 had been raised, both FOX-19 and CNN reported. A day later, more than $60,000 was donated by more than 170,000 people.

The motivational speaker asked for Carter's CashApp information in the video just before the donations came rolling in.

“I just lost it,” Carter told CNN after he found out about all the tips coming in. “I didn’t know how to feel. This is the kind of thing I do. I love giving and donating and helping people, but I never expected someone to do it for me.”

Carter burst into tears when Whittaker first told him of the money raised on Whittaker’s podcast the night after the airport encounter, FOX-19 reported.

“I do what I do because I love it. It’s never been about money for me,” Carter told the news outlet. “But this is over the top. This is God at work, man.”