WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (WENY) -- Local music legend Ed Clute is discovering new-found fame after a recent video of him playing piano went viral on Facebook. That video, now with more than 6.5 million views! 

Once you hear it, it's hard to turn away. World class pianist Ed Clute recently stopped by the Hudson Manor in his hometown of Watkins Glen to give the piano there a tune-up. Following a request for a cell phone video from the owner, Jim Somerville, Ed took the chance to play a little tune. Then, much like his fingers on the keys, the video took off! 

Born of the Clute family, which owned the original salt business in Watkins Glen, Ed developed a love of music at an early age. 

"We'll I started playing the piano when I was 3 years old. My mother was my inspiration; she wanted me to be a musician and I started playing when I was 3," Ed says. 

Sightless since birth, the now 76-year-old knew from childhood, playing the piano was something he'd want to do forever. 

"I started having formal training at age 6. I was still learning by ear but I wanted to learn how to read braille music, so then I went to the School for the Blind in Batavia, New York," Ed explains. 

From there, he went on to study at the renowned New England Conservatory in Boston, with his music career eventually going worldwide, despite all the odds.

"Sometimes I'd like to be able to see but other times I'm just as glad I don't...but I was married and I would have loved to have been able to see my wife. I had a marriage that was unbelievable! She was so great. And we were married 32 years," says Ed. 

Still living in Watkins Glen, Ed now works as a piano tuner, and plays at certain local spots around the region, all with the hope of bringing some peace and joy to those willing to listen.

"Music has been my whole life and I try to make people happy because there's so many things today where our world going through these unrest periods where people need to be happier than they really are, and so I'm trying in my own way to make that happen," Ed says. 

Ed Clute's Facebook page, with additional videos of him playing the piano, can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/edclute/