Louder AAA
A 99-year-old woman has been recognised by Guinness World Records after becoming the oldest person to crowd surf at a concert.
Pauline Kana, who was born in August 1926, is famous online as "Gangster Granny" through the videos of her grandson, Ross Smith, who has amassed nearly 25 million followers on TikTok. The pair first went viral in 2013 when Ross filmed himself blocking a basketball shot from his grandmother, a clip that went viral on the short-lived video platform Vine.
The pair's latest escapade took place during a show by country star Bradley Gilbert at the Austin County Fairgrounds in Bellville, Texas, earlier this month. After being introduced by Glibert, Kana is passed through the crowd on some sort of gurney – onlookers could be forgiven for thinking she's being medevaced – before the crowd engages in a lively chant of "Granny! Granny!"
"I did it!" exclaims Kana, after receiving her Guinness Award. "I’m the greatest of all time!"
"Thank you to all the 20,000 people for making this happen," says Smith. "I still have chills listening to that Granny chant. What an iconic and funny moment."
"It still feels so new to me," Kana told PressPass in 2022. "My generation didn’t have TV or the internet, only radio. To go from obscurity offline to this place where people seem to know my name has been a whirlwind in the very best way.
"I’m not interested in fame, but I do love that I now have the opportunity to connect with so many new people all across the world and hear their stories while sharing our own. I could never have expected or even wished for this chapter of life, but I wouldn’t change it for the world."
