Bento, the keyboard-playing cat who became an Internet sensation, passed away this week at the age of nine, according to The Spokesman-Review.
Hailing from Spokane, Washington, Bento became Internet famous in 2009 when a YouTube video of his masterful keyboard playing went viral. He joined the ranks of other celebrity felines including Maru, Master of Boxes, Lil Bub, and Grumpy Cat, who shared a manager with Bento.
It is worth noting that Bento was not the original keyboard cat; the first keyboard cat video dates back to the mid-1980s and starred a feline named Fatso. Both Fatso and Bento were owned by the same cat daddy, Charlie Schmidt. Fatso passed away in 1989, long before her own keyboard cat went viral in 2007. Following the success of Fatso’s video, Schmidt adopted Bento to assume the mantel of Keyboard Cat. Bento reaped the riches of Internet fame by starring in a pistachio commercial and making frequent appearances on the cat conference circuit.
Watch a tribute video for Bento:
