Paul L Vasquez death: 'Double rainbow' viral video creator dies aged 57

Vasquez's video appeared in many forms: in movies, auto-tuned into songs, and referenced in adverts by Vodafone and Microsoft

Paul L Vasquez, the man behind the “Double rainbow” viral video, has died at the age of 57.

As reported by the Californian newspaper The Modesto Bee, Vasquez had been struggling with health issues and was possibly carrying the coronavirus.

On 5 May, he posted on his Facebook page that he had been tested for COVID-19. “I’ll get my results in two days, however at this point I’m fairly certain that I don’t have it. I didn’t have a fever. Something else is going on with me”, Vasquez wrote.

“Whatever happens I’m ready for it, I’m happy to experience it all, it might only be pollen and I’ll have more time in my apartment, if it’s the virus and it’s my time to recycle I look forward to coming back to a new body and starting over, whatever happens I’m enjoying the ride,” Vasquez wrote in an earlier post on Facebook.

The cause of death has not yet been released.

Vasquez, commonly called “Bear” by friends, worked as a firefighter, for the National Park service, a truck driver, and trained to be a professional cage fighter according to a CNN report looking Vasquez's life after the viral video. He was divorced and had two adult children, a son and a daughter.

Vasquez’s video was posted on 8 January, 2010 and has over 47 million views at the time of publication. The video gained popularity from Vasquez’s remarkable outbursts at seeing the event, including the phrases “Double rainbow all the way across the sky”, “What does this mean?” and “Too much!”

The video did not gain notoriety until Vasquez was interviewed by talk show host Jimmy Kimmel on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Vasquez’s video was popularized by a number of other celebrities including Amanda Palmer, Jimmy Fallon and the band The Axis of Awesome, as well as being used to make auto-tuned videos and appearing in adverts. The “Double Rainbow” was referenced in a Vodafone advert as well as one for Microsoft.