A teenager who went viral dancing to an obscure song his dad wrote in the 1970s is turning it into a hit 43 years later

• A teenager shared a reaction video to his dad's unreleased song from 1978.
• The TikTok received more than 3.2 million views and caught the attention of various celebrities.

A 1978 song named "Surrender To Me" has found new life on TikTok after sitting in a family garage for 43 years.

It's all thanks to a video uploaded by 19-year-old musician Zach Montana on January 4, when he discovered a CD that had been left in his car by his dad.

"I went to go plug my phone in to stream my own music and the song just came up in my car," he told Insider. "And then the vocals come in. I was like, 'I know that voice.'"

That voice was Montana's father singing an unreleased song he'd written and recorded over four decades ago. There was no trace of the track online, so Montana posted a reaction video to TikTok, where he expressed his delight at the song.

@zach.montana Guys PLEASE blow this up to convince my dad to release this song\ud83e\udd2f#da ♬ original sound - Zach

"There's a horn section! Just wait! It's so good!" says the teenager in the clip. "And he never released it! I'm so mad at him!"

The video has been viewed over 3.2 million times.

The song went unexpectedly viral and captured the attention of celebrities

Montana, who also makes music, told Insider that he never expected a viral hit by the following day. "I woke up and I had messages going, 'Oh my God, this is crazy. Have you looked at your TikTok?' I was even getting messages from my hairstylist."

It caught the attention of music critic Anthony Fantano, who declared the song "a banger" in a TikTok comment, and DragonForce guitarist Herman Li commented, "can he be my dad too?" Singer Meghan Trainor also commented, saying, "so good."

Since posting the video, Montana said his TikTok audience has grown from 10,000 to over 72,000 followers. A remastered cut of "Surrender to Me" was released on streaming platforms on February 4 under the name FireCityFunk.

The video's viral success even led to the father and son appearing on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on February 17 to perform it together.

The singer said record labels rejected the song at the time, but its success was worth waiting for

Montana's father, William "Curly" Smith, is a music industry veteran, and told Insider he has recorded with artists including Brian Wilson, Willie Nelson, Mick Fleetwood, and Keith Moon.

Smith told Insider that in 1978, "I decided it was time to write and record some R&B funk songs. I found some great, kickass, Motown session players and, after writing the song, I hit the studio to record it."

The 70-year-old is astonished at his song's popularity. "Every now and then something truly miraculous and amazing happens in your life. I think this song being released after 43 years on a dusty shelf definitely qualifies for a miracle in my life. Hallelujah!" he said.

Smith said record labels rejected "Surrender to Me" at the time, but he still liked to occasionally listen to the song, which is how it wound up in the car.

Smith believes it was worth waiting four decades for a solo hit. "It's good to be alive and be able to take this part of the journey with my very talented son," he told Insider. "How cool is that?"

Montana told Insider that he's deeply moved by people discovering a musician he's always looked up to. "My dad became my biggest inspiration. He always encouraged my dreams and told me I could achieve anything. I love him to death."

"My journey, so far, has been truly blessed with good fortune, and this has to be the big, old cherry sitting on top of a giant banana split," Smith told Insider.

For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.