Indie song contest to raise awareness of Parkinson’s
Top Songs 2026
Last summer an unsolicited piece of music dropped into my mailbox. It came from some “boys and girls”, who wanted Grandpa E.J. Ballard be remembered. He was a lifelong musician, deeply committed to his craft, and continued composing music well into the progression of his illness. He passed away after following a long and tumultuous journey with Parkinson’s, his “malady”,
I liked that tune and guessed there must be more talent out there. A call for an indie song contest posted at Parkinson’s Europe and the World Parkinson Coalition had excellent response. The short list presented 18 recent works from the pandemic to now, with genres from Country to Jazz, and you, the audience, were the jury to vote the best songs for 2026. Here they are.
- Rob Georg (US), cared for his Dad, 415 votes
- Justin Thomas (AU), ex-musician, now producer, 173 votes
- Birdie Belgium (BE), cares for her Mum, 50 votes
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Top Videos 2026
We nearly all experience something nasty during our lives. Statistics tell the real story. In Mark Edward Fuller and René van Helsdingen’s case it was Parkinson’s. Their music video “The Nasty Side of Life” combines a poem by Mark Edward Fuller, graphic art by Victor de Boo, animation and music by René van Helsdingen.
An interesting observation is, that today around 50% of artists make use of AI. Perhaps the reason is that artificial intelligence can turn a soloist into a symphonic orchestra. One person with Parkinson’s that stands tall in the crowd of one-man-bands is David Sangster. Not only is he a very creative CGI artist, he is also raising awareness of Parkinson’s. Shake the World Up!
Enjoy the music videos!
Gerald Ganglbauer