One of the OG content creators on YouTube, Keenan Cahill, passed away on Thursday after complications arose from heart surgery. The 27-year-old creator died on Thursday afternoon, according to a statement that his manager wrote to TMZ. Ever since his heart surgery on the 15th of December, he had been put on life support. For those who are too young or unaware of the YouTube content scene, Cahill was one of the original creators on the media platform, where he built around 700,000 subscribers over the last 12 years.
His most viral video was “Down on Me” which he lipsynced with 50 Cent- which racked in around 60 million views. Cahill had also performed with several other artists like Katy Perry, David Guetta, Britney Spears, and Justin Bieber. [1] Keenan Cahill also went through a singing phase as he released a couple of albums in 2013 and 2014. However, the last few years saw him uploading quite sporadically. It wouldn’t go amiss to state that this creator had his life quite difficult from the very beginning.
At the age of 1, he was diagnosed with Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome, which is a disease that occurs in 1 in 250,000 to 600,000 babies. Over a period of time, the organs start getting scarred and inflamed, and finally atrophy. Cahill’s aunt had also set up a GoFundMe page which was used to cover the medical, as well as the funeral costs- which managed to raise around $15,000 to date.
Keenan Cahill, One Of The Original YouTube Content Creators, Passed Away At The Age of 27
On the eve of his demise, Keenan Cahill’s official Facebook page wrote, “Keenan is an inspiration, and let’s celebrate by remembering all the content he created, artists he collaborated with, the music he produced, and the love he had for everyone who supported him over the years.” After getting diagnosed at the age of 1, he had undergone a bone marrow transplant in 1997- and several other surgeries over the years to treat the genetic ailment. Back when YouTube was a fledgling creation, Cahill’s videos were on the top of the spectrum. During the early 2010s, before apps like Instagram, TikTok, or Vine were used by content creators to make viral videos, Cahill used to post his lipsyncing videos on YouTube- with his first lipsync video dedicated to Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream in 2010. [2]
Keenan Cahill had pretty much cemented his position on the social media platform when he was 17 years old- that too with the help of an iMac that he had received for his 13th birthday. This teen from Elmhurst Illinois also rose to the top over a series of self-produced lipsyncing videos of the top 40 hits. After gaining an audience of over 425 million, he started bringing in a singing career. On the 31st of July, 2012, Keenan released his first single that was titled “Hands Up”. This was launched in collaboration with UK sister duo Electrovamp. The second single he launched was with the French DJ Oriska, called ‘Tonight’. His third single was ‘Back To Us’, which featured Latin Pop Artist Mayra Veronica in early 2013.
He Secured Stardom Before TikTok, Vine, and Instagram Were A Thing
Ever since then, Keenan Cahill didn’t look back. He has also collaborated with some of the top names in the music industry- which include the likes of The Wanted and Justin Bieber. Recently, Cahill credited his early start to stardom to two talk show hosts Chelsea Handler and Jimmy Kimmel- who were the first to discover his videos. He also thanked Chelsea Handler for introducing him to Jennifer Aniston- who then went on to give him his first commercial for Smartwater. Also, it was DJ Pauly D from Jersey Shore who taught the YouTube star to fist pump to the beat for ‘Beat Dat Beat’.[3]
Along with a wildly successful career on YouTube, Keenan Cahill has also appeared on several other shows like ‘America’s Top Model with Tyra Banks’, ABC’s American Music Awards- where he performed with LMFAO, David Hasselhoff, Justin Bieber, and Will.I.Am, and NBC’s America’s Got Talent with Nick Cannon. He has also been a part of several viral campaigns for the World Champion San Francisco Giants, Wrigley Gum, and the New York Knicks Smartwater.
Sources
- “YouTuber Keenan Cahill, known for his celebrity lip-sync videos, has died aged 27 following complications from heart surgery.” Insider. Lindsay Dodgson. January 3, 2023,
- “Keenan Cahill, YouTube creator who made videos lip-syncing with celebrities, dies at 27.” NBC News. December 30, 2022.
- “Keenan Cahill.” Party Flock.