YouTube Star Keenan Cahill Tragic Cause of Death: Musicians' Collaborator Dead at 27

Famed YouTube star Keenan Cahill died a few days before 2022 ends. He was just 27.

WGN-TV first reported the news about Cahill's death upon receiving an official statement from his family's spokesperson. It confirmed that he had passed away.

It did not reveal further details about his death, but the YouTube star's manager, David Graham, spoke to a news outlet sharing that Cahill underwent open heart surgery on Dec. 15. Unfortunately, he suffered complications that led his doctors to put him on life support.

He ultimately died on Thursday in a Chicago hospital.

The reason as to why he had to undergo the procedure remains unknown. But he publicly revealed that he had Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome, a rare mucopolysaccharide disease.

According to the National MPS Society, MPS is caused by abnormalities in a person's mucopolysaccharides, or sugar molecules chain. Younger patients can show a little sign of the disease, but symptoms only start to appear while the cells suffer damage as time goes by.

Colleagues and fans immediately paid tribute to the YouTube star and remembered his fruitful life in the past years. They also thanked him for helping people in need throughout his lifetime.

Damian Irvine said, "A precociously talented & positive young man who pioneered in social media content & legitimately paved the way for the current superstars. Keenan stepped in & volunteered to help @cronullasharks when the club needed it the most. His help was invaluable."

Keenan Cahill's Career, Legacy

His journey started when he launched his YouTube channel, where he started uploading lip-synch videos with celebrities. He ultimately became one of the first YouTube influencers to surpass 500 million views on the platform.

In 2011, he performed in a video at the TV 2 Zulu Awards and lip-synched the songs which were nominated for the Hit of the Year award category. His appearance led him to collaborate with Brian Wilson and Cody Ross in Taio Cruz's hit song, "Dynamite."

His popularity reached the peak when he and 50 Cent performed a surprise collaboration on the rapper's "Down On Me Song." After that moment, he began working with other musicians and celebrities, including Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Tyra Banks, Jason Derulo, and LMFAO, among others.