Obit of the Day: Zach Sobiech, YouTube Sensation
Zach Sobiech wrote a song. Lots of people do. But few of them are 18-year-olds with incurable cancer writing a final farewell to friends and family.
In November 2009, Zach was diagnosed with osteosarcoma* an aggressive bone cancer. After three years of treatment, Zach and his family were told that it had spread and there was nothing more that could be done.
Zach thought he could do one more thing. So he wrote the song “Clouds” and recorded it on his phone. The Minnesotan’s performance caught the attention of producers at Atomic K Records and they offered to let Zach do a studio recording.
Uploaded to YouTube in December 2012, the song went viral. As of May 2013 it has received 3.2 million views.
The song is available for purchase on Amazon.com and iTunes. The money from the sales of “Clouds” is given to the Children’s Cancer Research Fund. At the time of his death, the organization has earned $100,000 from sales of Zach’s single. (You can also donate directly to the Research Fund in his name.)
Zach Sobiech, who received his diploma in April because he would not live to see his class graduate in June, died on May 20, 2013.
Random note: Two weeks before he passed, a celebrity lip synch of “Clouds” was posted on YouTube featuring Bryan Cranston, Sarah Silverman, The Lumineers, and most of the cast of The Office.
Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune
(The YouTube video is courtey of The Wooly Rhino.)
* Earlier this month Obit of the Day featured another young victim of osteosarcoma, Zachi Telesha. Zachi was a 12-year-old comic book writer.
“Junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers near Ft. Snelling, Minnesota. Headquarters of the 25th Infantry, ca. 1886. Romantic view of young woman looking at the fort across the river.”
From: The National Archives
Husker Du Postcard, c. 1979
The Twin Cities punk rock band Husker Du made its debut at a St. Paul dive bar called Ron’s Randolph Inn on March 30, 1979. Here’s how drummer Grant Hart described landing that first gig:
A bunch of us were at a friend’s house one night and things got weird, so part of the party, including myself and a guy we knew named Charlie Pine, went up to Ron’s Randolph Inn because it was in the neighborhood. When Charlie was getting a pitcher of beer, he asked the guy managing that night, “So you have bands here?” The guy’s response was, “Yeah, you got a band?” to which Charlie replied, “Yeah, we’re called Buddy and the Returnables.” The bartender said, “Good, you’re booked on the 30th and 31st of this month.” Buddy and the Returnables was something that Charlie had just pulled out of his ass at that moment.”
Source: Husker Du: The Story of the Noise-pop Pioneers Who Launched Modern Rock, by Andrew Earles
Image via Minnesota Historical Society
Kramarczuk’s, an Eastern European deli and restaurant in northeast Minneapolis, has won a James Beard American Classic Award.
The award is given to regional establishments, often family-owned, that are “treasured for their quality food, local character, and lasting appeal,” according to the Beard Foundation.
(MPR Photos/Jeffrey Thompson)
Uncle Sam’s, Minneapolis, mid 1970s
From 1972 to 1979, the distinctive curve-cornered building at First Avenue and Seventh Street in downtown Minneapolis was home to Uncle Sam’s, the local franchise of a national disco chain. In the years before it went disco, the building had operated as a Greyhound bus station (1937-69) and as a live music venue called the Depot (1970-72). After seven years as Uncle Sam’s, the club changed its name to Sam’s and returned to its live music roots. On New Year’s Eve 1981 it assumed yet another name, First Avenue.
Photo via Old Minneapolis
The Andrews Sisters - Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
Last Andrews Sister, Patty, dies at 94
Patty Andrews, the last surviving member of the Andrews Sisters, died at her Northridge, California, home Wednesday, her publicist Alan Eichler said. She was 94.
The Andrews Sisters began singing on Minnesota radio stations in the 1920s, but after several years on the Vaudeville circuit they began a recording career that made them one of the most successful female groups ever.
Their family lived in Mound, Minnesota, when Patty was born on February 16, 1918.
Patty Andrews was just 10 when Larry Rich, who saw the sisters sing at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis, offered them a spot on his traveling show.
The sisters performed on troops ships, airplane hangars and battlefields for the USO during the World War II.
They appeared in 16 films during the 1940s, including “Buck Privates,” “In the Navy,” and “Hold That Ghost” with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, “Hollywood Canteen” and “Road to Rio” with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby as well as in a number of musical films.
The Andrews Sisters earned 19 gold records and sold about 100 million singles.
RIP Patty.
Article information came from story on CNN.
