Remembering Mayo Clinic’s Famous ‘Piano Couple’

Remember that viral video of the charming older couple playing an impromptu concert on the grand piano in the lobby of Mayo Clinic's Gonda Building? Here's a tribute to Marlon Cowan, one half of Mayo Clinic's famous 'Piano Couple,' who passed away last week at age 97.

I remember seeing that classic viral video of the couple, spontaneously playing some ragtime music on the piano at here Mayo Clinic back when I was living in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The first video was made back in 2008, recorded by the daughter of another Mayo Clinic patient.

To say that video went viral is an understatement. According to this Mayo Clinic article, before being featured both online and in various publications by Mayo Clinic, the original video had around 1,000 shares. But it would take off from there!

"Within a month, it had over a half-million views, leading Good Morning America to fly the Cowans to New York for a live studio performance on the morning their YouTube view count reached 2 million. The Cowans also were interviewed for a story on the Japanese TV network, NHK, and were featured in many other news stories," the article said.

The article went on to say that the couple performed their last public concert again at Mayo Clinic, back in 2011. The Cowans' daughter passed along the news that her father had passed away last week, at age 97. The article did a fantastic job a recalling all those joyful memories that Cowans, a couple from Ankeny, IA, provided to those of us not only here in southeast Minnesota, but across the world.

You can read the entire Mayo Clinic tribute to the Cowans HERE. And here's the original video that started it all, recorded some 8 years ago, right here in Rochester...