“Okay, Lord, you can have him. But if he must die, I want it to be for something big. I want someone’s life to be changed forever.” -Laura Sobiech

This is what Laura Sobiech called upon for help when a deadly disease was cursed upon the Sobiech family. At the age of 14 in November 2009, Zach Sobiech was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. Those of you who have no idea what osteosarcoma is, it is defined as a type of bone cancer that is typically found in children.

This Stillwater, Minnesota born boy’s fame began with his song, “Clouds”. Very few people, from my understanding, have heard of “Clouds”. This song was first released to the public in December 2012, in a 3 minute video explaining why Zach’s song was composed . With over 12 million views of the music video, Zach was an overnight sensation. When the song was first written it was intentionally supposed to be a goodbye message to friends and family. Little did they know, the song captured hearts and didn’t just change one life, but millions. On May 20, 2013, cancer had won the monstrous battle; however, it set Zach free from anymore pain. Only two days after Zach’s death, “Clouds” had hit #1 on the iTunes charts on May 22, 2013. “Clouds” topped popular  songs like “Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore and “Just Give Me a Reason” by Pink.

Zach Sobiech has some brilliant uplifting compositions anyone can tune in on. His folk rock style may not be as hardcore as most fitness songs, but his music can motivate people before or during anything. After only the first time of hearing “Clouds”, I already felt it was growing on me. Even though Zach had a raspy and soft voice, the editing in all of the music videos make his voice become smooth and clear.

“Sandcastles” and “Fix Me Up” are two of the several songs listed on the album Zach and his best friend, Sammy Brown created. They titled their first and last album together, “A Firm Handshake: Fix Me Up”. This album wasn’t the only thing dedicated to Zach’s song as Laura Sobiech wrote the “Fly a Little Higher” novel, which was published on April 28, 2014. As Zach Sobiech said, “Try and make people happy and you will make the world a better place”.