"Clouds" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Zach Sobiech Zachary David Sobiech (May 3, 1995 – May 20, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter and musician from Lakeland, Minnesota, who was a member of the band A Firm Handshake. The single "Clouds" gained extensive media attention on YouTube, prior ...

. It was his debut and only single released as a solo artist, released digitally on December 14, 2012, and later included on his debut EP, '' Fix Me Up'' (released under his band name,

A Firm Handshake Zachary David Sobiech (May 3, 1995 – May 20, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter and musician from Lakeland, Minnesota, who was a member of the band A Firm Handshake. The single "Clouds" gained extensive media attention on YouTube, prior t ...

). Proceeds from the sale of "Clouds" go to the Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund, which is a branch of the Children's Cancer Research Fund. In the United States, "Clouds" sold 25,000 units before Sobiech's passing, and an additional 30,000 units on his death date. In total, he had sold 156,000 copies of "Clouds" upon his Hot 100 entry, and has since accumulated 20 million views on YouTube. The single charted in the US, the UK, Canada, France and Belgium.

Background

At age 14, Sobiech was diagnosed with

osteosarcoma An osteosarcoma (OS) or osteogenic sarcoma (OGS) (or simply bone cancer) is a cancerous tumor in a bone. Specifically, it is an aggressive malignant neoplasm that arises from primitive transformed cells of mesenchymal origin (and thus a sarcoma) ...

, a bone cancer that mostly affects children. In May 2012, Sobiech's doctors informed him that he had up to a year to live. Sobiech recorded the song "Clouds" about his battle with cancer.

Release and promotion

Sobiech released it as a YouTube video in December 2012. It went viral, surpassing 3 million views at the time of his death in May 2013. Views had reached 11.8 million by end of November 2013. Around 30 stars had begun releasing tribute versions of the song. One version was released on SoulPancake, featuring

Bryan Cranston Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2 ...

Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom '' The Office'', for which he earned three consecutive E ...

Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatr ...

Colbie Caillat Colbie Marie Caillat (; born May 28, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to fame through social networking website Myspace. At that time, she was the number one unsigned artist of her genre. After signing with Universal Republic ...

Anna Faris Anna Kay Faris (; born November 29, 1976) is an American actress. She rose to prominence for her work in comedic roles, particularly the lead part of Cindy Campbell in the ''Scary Movie'' film series (2000–2006). She has appeared in a number ...

Chris Pratt Christopher Michael Pratt (born June 21, 1979) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for playing Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015). He also appeared in The WB drama series '' Everwood'' (2002–2006) ...

Jason Mraz Jason Thomas Mraz (; born June 23, 1977) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come'' (2002), which spawned the single "The Remedy (I Won't W ...

, Sara Bareilles,

Jenna Fischer Regina Marie "Jenna" Fischer (born March 7, 1974) is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Pam Beesly on the NBC sitcom '' The Office'' (2005–2013), for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sup ...

Rachel Bilson Rachel Sarah Bilson (born August 25, 1981) is an American actress. Born to a Californian show-business family, Bilson made her television debut in 2003, and then landed the role of Summer Roberts on the prime-time drama series ''The O.C.'' Bi ...

Sarah Silverman Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American comedian, actress, and writer. Silverman was a writer and performer on '' Saturday Night Live'', and she starred in and produced '' The Sarah Silverman Program'', which ran from 2007 t ...

Jason Derulo Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer and songwriter.

Kina Grannis Kina Kasuya Grannis (born August 4, 1985) is an American guitarist, singer and YouTuber. Grannis was the winner of the 2008 Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest, earning a recording contract with Interscope Records and having her music video pla ...

, Paul McDonald, and

Phillip Phillips Phillip LaDon Phillips Jr. (born September 20, 1990) Note: An inaccurate birthdate (Sept. 29, 1990) and birthplace (Leesburg, Georgia) appear in is an American singer-songwriter who rose to fame after winning the eleventh season of ''Americ ...

among other celebrities and Sobiech's family and friends lip-synching to "Clouds". This video of artists was assembled by Rainn Wilson, and directed by Justin Baldoni who had also directed a short documentary about Sobiech, titled ''My Last Days''. At the end of the video, Jason Mraz is shown saying, "Thank you Zach. You've written a great song, dude. It's a real pleasure to sing it, and sing it with you. Thank you."

Legacy

''Clouds''

On October 16, 2020,

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

released the movie ''

Clouds In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals ma ...

'', a

musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film based upon the memoir ''Fly a Little Higher: How God Answered a Mom's Small Prayer in a Big Way'' by Laura Sobiech. The film stars

Fin Argus Steffan Fin Argus (born September 1, 1998) is an American actor, musician, and model. Early life and education Argus is from Des Plaines, Illinois. They have an older sister, Sadie, and a younger sister, Lacey. They were a self-described "theatre ...

Sabrina Carpenter Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter (born May 11, 1999) is an American singer and actress. Carpenter made her acting debut with an appearance in the television crime show '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' and had a recurring role on Fox's short-liv ...

Madison Iseman Madison Iseman (born February 14, 1997) is an American actress. She is known for playing Charlotte in the CMT comedy television series '' Still the King'', She is also known for playing Rain Burroughs in '' Fear of Rain'', Bethany Walker in '' J ...

Neve Campbell Neve Adrianne Campbell (born October 3, 1973; ) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in the drama and horror genres. She has appeared on ''People'' magazine's list of "50 Most Beautiful People" twice. Following a series of minor a ...

Tom Everett Scott Thomas Everett Scott (born September 7, 1970) is an American actor. His film work includes a starring role as drummer Guy Patterson in the film '' That Thing You Do!'', the protagonist in '' An American Werewolf in Paris'', and notable roles i ...

and

Lil Rel Howery Milton "Lil Rel" Howery Jr. (born December 17, 1979) is an American actor and comedian. Howery is known for playing Robert Carmichael in NBC's television comedy series '' The Carmichael Show'' (2015–2017) and Transportation Security Administra ...

. After the release of the film, the song "Clouds" topped the iTunes song chart at the No. 1 spot a second time, seven years after Zach Sobiech's death. ''Clouds: A Musical Celebration'', a virtual concert was held as a musical tribute on October 24, 2020, with

OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2002. It consists of lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Tedder, lead guitarist and violist Zach Filkins, rhythm guitarist Drew Brown, bassist and cel ...

and various members of the ''Clouds'' cast participating.

Credits and personnel

Single *Zach Sobiech: guitar and lead vocals *Karl Demer: producer/mix engineer – Atomic K Records & Productions *Merritt Benton: tracking engineer *John Lynn: piano *Zach Miller: drums *Sean O'Hea: bass *Matt Vannelli: guitar Music video *Video and editing: Mike Rominski – Wooly Rhino Productions References:

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Awards and nominations

*Upper Midwest Emmy Nomination for Best Music Composition/ArrangementMidwest Emmies: 2013 nominees
/ref>

References

{{authority control 2012 debut singles Viral videos 2012 songs 2012 YouTube videos 2010s ballads