Fans of Keyboard Cat are mourning the feline YouTube sensation in the wake of his March 8 death. After 9-year-old Bento’s owner, Charlie Schmidt, confirmed his passing in a tribute video on Friday, cat lovers everywhere flocked to Twitter to grieve the loss of the Internet icon.
Bento was adopted by Schmidt in 2009 after 1984 footage of his previous cat, Fatso—a.k.a. the original Keyboard Cat—went viral in 2007. He then became a YouTube star in his own right with a string of videos and commercials that featured him pawing a small electronic piano.
“R.I.P. Bento the keyboard cat,” wrote Twitter user @AlphaOmegaSin in remembrance of Bento. “You’ll always and forever be one of my favorite old internet memes.”
Others shared more specific memories of their favorite Keyboard Cat moment. “Play Haley Off, Keyboard Cat is still to this day the funniest youtube clip I’ve ever seen,” tweeted @DragonflyJonez. “RIP to a legend.”
See some of the reactions below.
- From Jan. 6 to Tyre Nichols, American Life Is Still Defined by Caste
- As People Return to Offices, It’s Back to Miserable for America’s Working Moms
- The Real Reason Florida Wants to Ban AP African-American Studies, According to an Architect of the Course
- Column: Tyre Nichols' Killing Is The Result of a Diseased Culture
- Without Evusheld, Immunocompromised People Are on Their Own Against COVID-19
- TikTok's 'De-Influencing' Trend Is Here to Tell You What Stuff You Don't Need to Buy
- Column: America Goes About Juvenile Crime Sentencing All Wrong
- Why Your Tax Refund May Be Lower This Year
