Mike Taylor, keyboardist for Burlington, Ont.-based Walk off the Earth, dies

BURLINGTON, Ont. — The Burlington, Ont.-based band Walk off the Earth has announced the death of keyboardist and vocalist Mike Taylor.

In a post on various social media sites Sunday evening, the band says Taylor died “peacefully from natural causes last night in his sleep.”

His bandmates express their “deepest sympathies” for Taylor’s two children and ask for privacy for his family.

“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved brother and band member, Mike ‘Beard Guy’ Taylor,” the post stated.

“Mike had a love for life that was unmatched and a willingness to give that went beyond ordinary means.”

Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward also expressed her condolences on Twitter, calling Taylor’s death a “tragic loss.”

“Our city’s condolences go out to the family, friends and bandmates of Mike. We are thinking of you,” Meed Ward tweeted.

Walk off the Earth was founded in 2006 and shot to fame in 2012 when their cover of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” went viral.

A YouTube video for the song, featuring all five band members simultaneously playing a single guitar and singing in harmony, has garnered more than 185 million views.

The band was scheduled to kick off a 2019 world tour with a New Year’s Eve show in Niagara Falls, Ont., on Monday night.

A representative for Walk off the Earth says they won’t be performing, but the show itself — which also features The Sheepdogs and Burton Cummings — will go on.

The Canadian Press