The 27-year-old showed off his talents at the keyboard yesterday to specially-invited audiences at two care homes in Yorkshire.
Mr Toseland was at the Oaklands Care Home in Kirk Hammerton yesterday afternoon before he headed over for an evening performance at Troutbeck Nursing Home in Ilkley.
Bernard Fisher, manager of Oaklands Country Rest Home in Gilsthwaite Lane, Kirk Hammerton, said while some of the residents had been previously unaware of the 27-year-old Yorkshireman’s fame and haul of racing trophies, they were all wowed by his prowess on the ivories.
While he plays regularly with his band, Crash, which performs covers by rock bands including Guns N’ Roses and AC/DC, Mr Toseland opted for a slightly more sedate set yesterday when he played classical compositions and ballads by artists including Elton John.
His appearances marked something of a return to his roots, and James Toseland, who was taught to play by his grandmother, Pam Billam, when he was seven, said: “I remember that I played at a care home near Sheffield where my great grandmother was a resident when I was about eight or nine.”
“I remember how nervous I was then, and the nerves were here again yesterday. But it was great to do something like this, and the elderly people loved the performances. Music is very much my first love, and motorcycles were introduced into my life after I had learnt the piano. It has always been a part of my life, and I would love to think that I could do something more with music when I retire from racing.”
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