The Pianist was playing for patients at Weatherfield General when Rita Tanner was admitted for tests in September 2017 after suffering memory loss and showing signs of dementia. Rita disappeared from her hospital bed causing Jenny Bradley and Gemma Winter to panic about her whereabouts. They searched the hospital not knowing that Rita in her confused state had heard the music the pianist was playing and was mentally taken back to her club days when she appeared as "Rita Littlewood - the Weatherfield Nightingale", thinking that he was her accompanist, and she was late for her for performance. The understanding man allowed her to sing some numbers with him and a relieved Jenny found her happily singing Let the Rest of the World Go By to an appreciative audience. She, Gemma and Johnny Connor led her back to her bed. A CT scan showed that Rita had a brain tumour, but after it was successfully removed it proved to be benign.
- The part of the unnamed character was played by Robert Maxfield who made 17 appearances as Julian, the Rovers's pianist, between June 1986 and January 1994.