Zachary David Sobiech (May 3, 1995 – May 20, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter and musician, best known for his single "Clouds", which gained extensive media attention on YouTube, prior to Sobiech's death from cancer in May 2013. It charted on the Billboard Hot 100, eventually becoming a hit also in the UK, Canada and France.

Life and career Sobiech attended St. Croix Catholic School in Stillwater, Minnesota. He later attended Stillwater Area High School. At age 14, Sobiech was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a bone cancer that mostly affects children. CBS reported that during his treatment he underwent 10 surgeries and 24 rounds of chemotherapy. He started writing music after his diagnosis.

In May of 2012, his doctors informed him that he had up to a year to live. Sobiech recorded the song "Clouds" about his battle with cancer, and released it as a YouTube video in December 2012. It went viral, surpassing 3 million views at the time of his death. It currently has more than 23 million views as of August 2026.

Prior to his death, Sobiech formed the band A Firm Handshake with Samantha "Sammy" Brown and Reed Redmond. A Firm Handshake's first EP and only release, Fix Me Up, was released digitally in early 2013, charting in the US, the UK and Canada. The debut single by A Firm Handshake is "How to Go to Confession" featuring Sammy Brown.

Death Sobiech died on May 20, 2013, of complications from osteosarcoma, at his home in Lakeland, an eastern suburb of Saint Paul, Minnesota. His funeral was held at the Catholic Church of St. Michael and he was later buried in St. Michael's Cemetery.

Tributes Rainn Wilson's YouTube channel SoulPancake released a documentary about Sobiech, directed by director-actor Justin Baldoni, a part of its online reality series, My Last Days. The 22-minute episode of My Last Days: Meet Zach Sobiech has been watched more than 15.6 million times on the main SoulPancake YouTube channel. A further episode entitled My Last Days: Zach Sobiech, One Year Later was created to follow up with Sobiech's family and friends after his death.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:

Artists have released many tributes, including many cover versions of "Clouds"—with a prominent version of "Clouds" released on SoulPancake, featuring director Rainn Wilson himself, along with Bryan Cranston, Ashley Tisdale, Jason Mraz, Sara Bareilles, Colbie Caillat, Phillip Phillips, Passenger, The Lumineers and many others. The music video on SoulPancake presented in collaboration with Wayfarer Entertainment was directed by Justin Baldoni, produced by Baldoni and Ahmed Kolacek, with Fouad Elgohari as associate producer and Nick Pezzillo as editor.Full credits include, SoulPancake presents, in collaboration with Wayfarer Entertainment / Director/Producer: Justin Baldoni / Producer: Ahmed Kolacek / Associate Producer: Fouad Elgohari / Editor: Nick Pezzillo / with appearances by Bryan Cranston, Sarah Silverman, Ashley Tisdale, Colbie Caillat, Chris Pratt, Anna Faris, Jason Mraz, Sara Bareilles, Andy Grammer, Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, Jenna Elfman, Jack McBrayer, Lumineers, Jason Derulo, Kelly Oxford, The Mowglis, Rachel Bilson, Kina Grannis, Passenger, Creed Bratton, Tyler Hilton, Mark Duplass, Josh Gad, Jason Wade, Paul McDonald, Ed Helms, Phillip Phillips, Justin Young, Alyssa Shouse The video has been viewed over 5 million times on the SoulPancake YouTube channel.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:

On December 5, 2013, a choir of an estimated 5,000 sang Sobiech's hit song "Clouds" at the Mall of America. The event was organized by the KS95 Kids Radiothon in collaboration with the Children's Cancer Research Fund and Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare. The 12th annual iteration of the event was held on December 6, 2024.

Legacy Sobiech's family established the Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund at Children's Cancer Research Fund. In September 2015, the fund reached $2 million.

Zach's mother Laura Sobiech wrote a memoir about his life, Fly a Little Higher: How God Answered a Mom's Small Prayer in a Big Way.

In early 2016, it was announced that Warner Bros. was developing a film based on Laura Sobiech's book. The film Clouds was released on Disney+ on October 16, 2020.On September 9, 2020, Disney posted a trailer on their official YouTube page, titled "Clouds l Official Trailer | Disney+", with the release date shown at 2:12. (YouTube references are not allowed on Wikipedia.) Production started on October 19, 2019, in Montreal, and was directed by Justin Baldoni. The film stars Fin Argus as Zach and Sabrina Carpenter as Sammy.

Discography Extended plays + Title Album details Peak chart positions US USDig. USHeat. USIndie USRock CAN UK UKIndie Fix Me Up Released: February 15, 2013 Label: Rock the Cause Format: Digital download 20 9 27 4 6 22 121 24

Singles

Single Year Peak positions Album USMacklemore & Ryan Lewis Still Atop Hot 100, Zach Sobiech Debuts USRock BEL(Wa)Ultratop.be/fr/ Zach Sobiech discography CAN FRLescharts.com Zach Sobiech discography SWI UK UKIndie "Clouds" 2013 26 3 29 14 26 73 50 8Fix Me Up

References

External links

The Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund at Children's Cancer Research Fund