63-year-old drumming grandma who’d never heard of YouTube now has over 2 million views

A drumstick-twirling 63-year-old is getting her 15 minutes of fame after a drum store posted a video of her doing a solo performance inside their drum shop.

Mary Hvizda really isn’t a grandma, but she’s embracing the celebrity status generated by her drum shop performance.

Mary tells KIRO Radio’s Luke Burbank Show that she played in bands when she was young, but retired years ago. When the drum shop owners asked why she wasn’t playing anymore she seemed to think she was too old.

“I’m like, ‘Because I’m an old lady now, you know, old ladies don’t play in bands when you get this age, especially when you’re a drummer.'”

The 63-year-old says she’s proud so many people have taken an interest in her drumming. She also admits she’d never heard of YouTube until a few days ago. But all the attention is inspiring her to play again.

“The guys at the store are getting me a brand new set,” says Mary, who had given her drums away years ago. Mary’s new set will be digital so she’ll be able to play it in her apartment and not disturb others.

“You can only use it with earphones. So nobody will ever hear it except me in my earphones,” says Mary.

But Luke thinks her talents may still have a wider reach than that.

“I have a feeling, Mary, that this is not going to be the only time that we see you. I could see TV advertisements that would want to use you as the grandma drummer. I could see a lot of different ways that this could actually be something that ends up being kind of a decent moneymaker for you.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.