We always take the lives of celebrities for granted. We want more movies, more episodes, more music. We assume that our favorite artists will be producing forever.

Sometimes gifted performers are allowed to fade away. Aretha Franklin, who passed earlier in 2018, had decades to live out her fame, but it didn't make her passing any easier.

When an entertainer, especially a musician, dies there's a sense of loss that comes from knowing we'll never be able to hear the songs we love in quite the same way again. They are forever tinged with the knowledge of their passing.

Fans of Walk Off The Earth, an award-winning group that has had numerous viral hits on YouTube, found out late last night that one of their favorite band members had passed away.

The band announced that Mike Taylor, known as Beard Guy, had passed away peacefully in his home of natural causes.

Best known for their cover of Gotye's "Somebody That You Used To Know", Walk Off The Earth showcased their unique talents to hundreds of millions of viewers on YouTube. The video, where five band members play one guitar, has been seen over 185 million times and was one of the most watched videos on the internet in 2012.

Taylor recently sat down to film a solo video of "O Holy Night" played by him on piano. It's classic but includes some of the flair that has made the band so successful. You can listen to the song here.

It serves as a haunting final performance for a truly talented man.

The band was scheduled to perform in Niagara Falls on New Year's Eve, but their performance has been cancelled. Taylor leaves behind two children.

"Our deepest sympathies are with his two children, whom he adored more than anything else in the world. We ask for privacy for his family in this trying time," the band wrote in a statement.

Taylor's death is not suspicious and, despite his apparent health, it has been deemed to have been caused naturally.

Fans have poured their grief into social media posts, expressing their shock and sense of loss.

[H/T Global, Billboard]

His music touched so many and we're all worse off for his loss.