Armless drummer wows the world with his prowess

Defying life’s challenges is one thing, but armless Romanian drummer Cornel Hrisca-Munn could give even the top musicians heat at their game. The 20-year-old Romanian, brought to England orphaned with no arms and a deformed leg, has put his remarkable percussive skills on display via his YouTube channel, jamming tirelessly to the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tinie Tempah, and Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe,” his lack of limbs completely irrelevant to his standout talent. And it doesn’t stop there. He’s also attuned as a producer, adding beats to the mix and giving his own spin to many current mainstream hits. In an interview with msnbc.com, Hrisca-Munn explained his inspiration for the craft. “When I started high school I quite fancied learning a music instrument. I looked into it and thought the drums would be the only instrument I would be physically capable of,” he says. “I started having lessons, then a couple of years later started to teach. Over the years, I grew more and more passionate about the drums, and kept playing! I also taught myself to play the bass, and have been doing that for a few years.” Hrisca-Munn, who calls himself a “servant of God,” was born physically impaired, and given only days to live, according UK’s Telegraph. His birth mother dropped him off at an institution in the Romanian countryside, and it wasn’t until a visiting doctor noticed him at seven months, in need of care, that the budding artist was given a home in Britain, where he currently resides. While he doesn’t have hands, Hrisca-Munn learned to play drums left-handed, and at the age of 14, placed second out of 400 contestants in a national drumming competition. His next move, of course, was to start a band, and The City Walls were formed. He explained his percussion technique on a YouTube post, commenting, “I play a normal right handed kit set up, but have an artificial right leg, so use my (real) left leg on the bass drum for quicker beats.” His latest video, ”Hot Right Now, was uploaded three hours before this post, and already accrued over 67,000 hits. In addition to such creative initiatives, the young impresario is student at Oxford University, studying philosophy and theology and an active fundraiser for the disabled. As for whether he might tackle a classic act, like, say, Led Zeppelin in the near future, Hrisca-Munn tells msnbc.com, "I'll do literally anything, got some older stuff lined up for my next batch of videos…All secret I'm afraid. Everyone will see soon though!"