Who didn’t know Nick Wing?
That’s the majority sentiment many of his friends and those who knew him say about the “jolly” karaoke singer who was well-known among Pensacola nightlife circles.
“To know Nick was to have a friend,” Semme Jenkins, fellow karaoke singer and friend, told the News Journal. “He was just always a nice person, and you could always talk to him outside of karaoke.
“He was always willing to give you a shoulder to cry on, or a hug if you needed one or just some solid advice,” Jenkins added. “So, I’ve just always known him to be a kind spirit.”
Wing died June 17 in a car crash. Friends say he was driving down Scenic Highway when the crash occurred. Pensacola police responded to a crash on Scenic Highway near Manolet Street June 17, but the PPD has a standing policy to only name crash victims to family members.
His death was a blow to the Pensacola community.
Wing was known as a “very jolly, blunt” person, according to Paul Boyden, who has been friends with the singer for over 25 years. Of everyone he’s ever known, Boyden says Wing had a “heart that not many people possess these days.”
“He always wanted everybody to do better,” Boyden told the News Journal. “He would always think of the positives in every situation, even when he was going through his deepest struggles in himself.”
Never one to dwell on the negatives, Wing was the face of friendship as he hosted his famous karaoke events each week at Seville Quarter and Play. Wth him gone, Boyden says karaoke nights will be starkly different than they used to be.
“Nick was very versatile with his voice, and he could do just about anything with it,” Boyden said. “Once people heard him sing, people were drawn to him.”
Seen as a “big teddy bear,” according to friend Cade Howell, Wing used his persona and advantageous last name to create Wing It Karaoke and bring his unmatched passion to Downtown Pensacola.
Howell, a local professional boxer, reminisced about the times Wing would rep his boxing shirts on karaoke nights just because he was a friend, highlighting how Wing always cherished a friend.
“He loved all things Bob Seger,” Howell said. “That’s the first thing we bonded over was Bob Seger. I think hearing the songs that we’d sing together and listen and laugh about is what’s always going to make an impact on me.”
As the mourning for Wing continues, Boyden says Pensacola karaoke will continue on albeit with a massive, Nick-Wing-sized hole everyone will always know is there. But Boyden said Wing would want everyone to continue making karaoke shine in the city.
But, as everyone eventually goes back to their lives, Boyden confidently said he doesn’t believe anyone could match what Wing gave to people and to karaoke.
“Whoever’s going to take over has some extremely large shoes to fill, and I don’t know if they’ll ever be filled in that way,” he added. “He’ll definitely go down as a legend in this area for sure.”
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: ‘Teddy bear’ Nick Wing will go down as karaoke ‘legend’ in Pensacola
Reporting by Benjamin Johnson, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
