And we’ll go up, up, up / But I’ll fly a little higher /
We’ll go up in the clouds because the view is a little nicer /
Up here my dear / It won’t be long now, it won’t be long now
With wisdom well beyond his 18 years, musician Zach Sobiech wrote the song “Clouds” before losing his four year battle to osteosarcoma in 2012. A #1 single on iTunes and more than 10 million YouTube views later, “Clouds” has become a viral sensation and a tribute to Zach’s lasting memory.
After being told by his doctors that there was nothing more that could be done to treat his rare form of bone cancer, Zach turned to music to say goodbye. He wanted to leave his family and friends with a song to remember him by. “Clouds” is about his experience with cancer and his thoughts on facing death.
Zach’s touching story has gone viral and greatly helped to increase public awareness of osteosarcoma. Some of Zach’s favorite actors and musicians went on to create a music video of themselves singing the hit song, and a documentary following Zach in the final weeks of his illness has garnered nearly 13 million views on YouTube.
Before his passing, Zach and his family established the Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund at Children’s Cancer Research Fund, to raise funds to prevent and cure bone cancer. A portion of the proceeds from his music benefit the fund which has raised nearly $800,000 to support osteosarcoma research. A multi-phase research project is now underway that has brought together expert physicians, scientists and even veterinarians in the field of osteosarcoma.
In the documentary that profiles his final days, Zach reflects, with his signature optimism, on his legacy: “I want to be remembered as a kid who went down fighting, and didn’t really lose.”
