The sudden death of Keenan Cahill, playback king on YouTube, at age 27

Keenan Cahill, one of YouTube's viral pioneers, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 27.

WGN-Chicago transmitted the message about his death from David Graham, Keenan Cahill's representative.

"Keenan had open heart surgery on Dec. 15 but there were complications from the procedure and he was put on life support," the representative told TMZ.

David Graham said that the YouTuber was taken off life support last Thursday afternoon.

On December 5, Keenan Cahill had shared a post on Instagram, telling his followers that he was going to face an operation for life or death.

"One week till open heart surgery. Wish me luck. I love ya'll," the YouTuber told his followers on social media.

Photo: @keenancahill / Instagram

Beyond his coronary problems, Keenan Cahill suffered from Maroteaux-Lamy Syndrome, a degenerative condition that affects tissues and organs, causing them to enlarge, inflame, or scar.

Many of those affected by the syndrome also end up having heart problems, which seems to be what happened to Keenan Cahill.

Despite his illness, Keenan Cahill was one of the first YouTube celebrities, accumulating tens of millions of views of his videos in 2010.

Keenan Cahill began by doing playbacks of well-known songs by artists such as David Guetta or Katy Perry. His performance of 'Teenage Dream' came to compete with the original.

A collaboration with 50 Cent, singing his hit 'Down on me' as a duet, opened the doors to fame and millions of views for the YouTuber.

His popularity rose even more when David Guetta appeared in the recording studio with Cahill. He made an epic remix with the YouTuber.

In four minutes, the DJ and Keenan Cahill covered up to six David Guetta hits like 'Gettin' Over', 'Memories' and 'When Love Takes Ove.' The recordings soon went viral.

From that moment on, Keenan Cahill's collaborations would make any other star blush. Hee worked with Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Jason Derulo, and Tyra Banks, among many others.

A special mention is merited for his collaboration with LMFAO, a duo of the moment in 2011. By surprise, he appeared in their performance at the American Music Awards, accompanied by David Hasselhoff. It was an epic performance.

His YouTube channel had more than 722,000 subscribers and accumulated more than 500 million views since its creation in 2009. That's the legacy Keenan Cahill leaves to the world.