Somewhere, up in the clouds, Zach Sobiech was smiling on Thursday night.
As a choir of about 5,000 singers sang Sobiech's hit song "Clouds," his girlfriend, Amy Adamle, looked around the rotunda of Mall of America in Bloomington.
"I know he's smiling right now, just like all of us are," said Adamle, a freshman at the University of Minnesota.
"He would be overwhelmed, knowing that it's making a difference. Hearing his song in Surround Sound, being on the ground floor and looking up at everyone, was very cool."
As the choir sang in four-part harmony, cascades of blue and white streamers floated down from the fourth floor. "And we'll go up, up, up, but I'll fly a little higher," the choir sang.
Zach's mother, Laura Sobiech of Lakeland, wiped tears from her eyes.
"It was incredibly moving, and it was such a fitting tribute to Zach and his song and his legacy," she said.
His father, Rob Sobiech, said the huge crowd showed "the kind of community we live in here in Minnesota."
"Everybody came together, and it was for Zach, and it was for everyone in the room, and it was for other kids who have cancer," he said.
The event was organized by the KS95 for Kids Radiothon, which started Thursday. The two-day annual radiothon, a benefit for the Children's Cancer Research Fund and Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare, has raised more than $12 million since it was started in 1999.
Sobiech, who died of a rare form of bone cancer in May at age 18, got his first big break during the radiothon last year.
"Clouds," which has received more than 8.8 million hits on YouTube and reached No. 1 on the iTunes singles chart, debuted on the station Dec. 6, 2012. An aspiring musician, Sobiech wrote the song to say farewell to friends and family as he was suffering from terminal osteosarcoma.
Dan Seeman, vice president and market manager for KS95/Hubbard Radio in St. Paul, said
Zach Sobiech's parents, Laura and Rob, hugged after the first singing of "Clouds." (Pioneer Press: Jean Pieri)
"I was struck by the fact that it really reflected everyone," he said. "There were older people. There were young people. There were men. There were women. It really was what we had hoped for -- that those who were so touched by Zach would want to share that with each other and the family."
Ben Olsen, 15, of Stillwater was one of those people.
Olsen never met Sobiech, but he said he came to the "Clouds" singalong with the St. Michael's Catholic Church choir in Stillwater to honor him and his family.
"It was something that I wanted to do for Zach," Olsen said. "It was awesome. Truly awesome."
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