CNN —
Before there were countless TikTok users attempting lip syncing and intricate choreography to pop hits, there was Keenan Cahill – lip syncing at its finest.
With little more than a desktop computer and sheer passion, Cahill garnered millions of views on his YouTube channel by sculpting the words to the hits of the day. He’s even got celebrities including Katy Perry and 50 Cent to join him.
Cahill, himself a charming, bespectacled musician whose videos have wowed millions, died Thursday in a Chicago hospital, his manager David Graham confirmed to CNN. he was 27
The Chicago native had Maroteaux-Lamy Syndrome, a condition that causes organ enlargement, among other symptoms, for which he has been treated frequently and has undergone multiple surgeries. According to his verified social media accounts, this was planned undergo open heart surgery earlier this Month.
“Complications arose that he couldn’t get over,” his family noted in a GoFundMe organized by his aunt and also shared on his Facebook page. The fundraiser was started to help cover the cost of Cahill’s treatment and funeral.
Cahill became one of the first viral stars of the 2010s with his lip-synching videos, which he filmed from his desk in his bedroom as a teenager. The concept was simple: an always expressive Cahill simply spoke the lyrics to hits of the era like Usher’s “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love” and Rihanna’s “Only Girl (In the World)” with aplomb and watched the crowd pour in.
These videos often reached the singers behind the hits, beginning with Perry after Cahill’s lip synced to her “Teenage Dream,” one of his most popular videos. She tweeted her love for his rendition and later invited him to perform at a 2011 tour stop in Pennsylvania.
Cahill recruited celebrities like 50 Cent and Ariana Grande to lip-sync on his YouTube videos, and some, including Jennifer Aniston, producer David Guetta and the contestants of America’s Next Top Model, borrowed his viral star power for their own videos out. According to his manager, Cahill became one of the first YouTubers to reach 500 million views on his personal channel.
But Cahill wanted to be known for more than just lip-synching, releasing his own single in 2013 and later becoming a DJ and producer.
“He never made a lot of money but he enjoyed what he did and put smiles on so many people’s faces,” his family said on GoFundMe.
His friends and admirers remembered Cahill’s joy and love of music. DJ Pauly D of “Jersey Shore” celebrity thanked him for “always making the world smile”. Perez Hilton, the mid-aughter internet gossip staple, shared again a video the two had shot for Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger” years earlier. And popular Twitch user Ellohime, with whom Cahill regularly played the RimWorld video game on the platform, tribute paid to Cahill as “Vikings Forever”, from one viral star to another.
Graham, his manager, called Cahill a “legend”.
“Keenan has inspired millions worldwide by being his true self despite his short stature, his illness and his age of 15-16,” he said in an email to CNN, referencing the age at which Cahill found fame would.