The character arc of Zach Sobiech

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born on 3 May 1995 and raised in Stillwater, Minnesota. Between then and his death sit a diagnosis of osteosarcoma at fourteen, ten surgeries and twenty four rounds of chemotherapy, the decision to start writing music after the diagnosis, a doctor telling him in May 2012 that he had up to a year, a song called Clouds released as a video that December, a band formed with two friends, an EP that charted in three countries, and a choir of five thousand people singing his song at the Mall of America. The line below draws the whole story.

Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who was Zach Sobiech?

A year left, they said. So he wrote a song.

He went to St Croix Catholic School and then Stillwater Area High School in Minnesota. At fourteen he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a bone cancer that mostly affects children. The treatment was ten surgeries and twenty four rounds of chemotherapy.

He started writing music after the diagnosis. That is the whole hinge of his life in one sentence: the thing that was going to kill him is also the thing that made him a songwriter, and he had about four years to be one.

In May 2012 his doctors told him he had up to a year to live. He recorded a song called Clouds, about what he was going through, and released it as a video that December. It went viral. By the time he died it had passed three million views, and it has since passed twenty three million. It charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a hit in the United Kingdom, Canada and France as well.

He was not a solo act about it. He formed a band, A Firm Handshake, with Samantha Brown and Reed Redmond. Their only release, an EP called Fix Me Up, came out digitally in early 2013 and charted in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. Their debut single was How to Go to Confession.

He died at his home in Lakeland, an eastern suburb of Saint Paul, on 20 May 2013, seventeen days after his eighteenth birthday. A documentary about him, made for the series My Last Days, has been watched over fifteen million times. That December an estimated five thousand people stood in the Mall of America and sang Clouds together, an event that has been held every year since. His family established the Zach Sobiech Osteosarcoma Fund at the Children Cancer Research Fund, which reached two million dollars in September 2015. His mother Laura wrote a memoir, and the film made from it was released in 2020.

The moments

Zach Sobiech's timeline.

The 1990s

3 May 1995

Born in Minnesota

Everyday. Stillwater, Minnesota.

The 2000s

Jun 2009

Osteosarcoma at fourteen

Setback, and it changed everything. Fourteen, and then ten surgeries.

Sep 2009

He starts writing music

Milestone, and it changed everything. The thing that was killing him made him a songwriter.

The 2010s

May 2012

Up to a year

Setback, and it changed everything. A year, and he knew exactly what to do with it.

15 May 2012

Say it, or sing it

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: write the song and publish it, taken, or keep it in the family. Clouds charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been watched over twenty three million times.

Nov 2012

He records Clouds

Milestone, and it changed everything. One song, written to say goodbye.

Dec 2012

It goes everywhere

Milestone, and it changed everything. Three million views while he was still alive to see them.

Feb 2013

A Firm Handshake

Milestone, and it changed everything. A band with two friends, and a record in three countries.

Mar 2013

On the Billboard Hot 100

Milestone, and it changed everything. A seventeen year old from Stillwater, on the Hot 100.

20 May 2013

He dies at home

Setback, and it changed everything. At home, seventeen days after turning eighteen.

The fund in his name is still paying for osteosarcoma research, and five thousand people still gather every December to sing the song. What he set moving is a piece of music that a teenager wrote to say goodbye to his family and which ended up on the Billboard Hot 100, which is not a sad story, it is a boy who got very good very fast.

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Zach Sobiech: frequently asked questions

What people ask about his line.

What is Zach Sobiech's character arc?

A boy diagnosed with bone cancer at fourteen who took up songwriting because of it, was told at seventeen that he had a year, wrote a song called Clouds to say goodbye, and watched it reach the Billboard Hot 100.

What is the song Clouds by Zach Sobiech about?

What he was going through. He recorded it after his doctors told him in May 2012 that he had up to a year to live, and released it as a video that December, where it went viral almost immediately.

What cancer did Zach Sobiech have?

Osteosarcoma, a bone cancer that mostly affects children. He was diagnosed at fourteen and underwent ten surgeries and twenty four rounds of chemotherapy. He began writing music after the diagnosis, and died of complications on 20 May 2013.

What band did Zach Sobiech form?

A Firm Handshake, with Samantha Brown and Reed Redmond. Their only release, an EP called Fix Me Up, came out digitally in early 2013 and charted in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.

How successful was the Zach Sobiech song Clouds?

It charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a hit in the United Kingdom, Canada and France. It had passed three million views by the time he died and has since passed twenty three million.

What is the Zach Sobiech legacy?

An osteosarcoma research fund his family established, which reached two million dollars in September 2015, an annual singalong of Clouds at the Mall of America, a memoir by his mother, and the film made from it.

Where does this timeline of Zach Sobiech's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Zach Sobiech isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to him.

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Sources

Zach Sobiech, English Wikipedia biography.
Clouds, his single, and Fix Me Up, the A Firm Handshake EP.
My Last Days: Meet Zach Sobiech, the SoulPancake documentary.
Fly a Little Higher, the memoir by his mother Laura Sobiech.