Jackson Odell Music Videos Give an Emotional Tour of His Life

Jackson Odell, the 20-year-old actor and musician who died on Sunday, chronicled his music career [...]

Jackson Odell, the 20-year-old actor and musician who died on Sunday, chronicled his music career on a YouTube channel, sharing performances of covers and originals. The videos provide an emotional look into his life as a performer.

Odell's YouTube page has 39,000 subscribers, although he stopped posting fresh videos on the page four years ago. He started the channel in 2010, when he was 13, sharing an old home video of himself performing Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" at a piano recital.

Odell then posted a couple of short clips in 2011, including one starring his dog Mazy. Another was a brief clip of him making fun of Johan Carlsson of the band Carolina Liar. In another one, he is seen messing around in a makeshift home studio trying to record a cover of Bruno Mars' "The Lazy Song." A year later, he shared a full video explaining how to play "The Lazy Song."

Other videos on his page are performances of John Mayer's "Dreaming With A Broken Heart," Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "Thrift Shop," "Hold On" by Alabama Shakes, Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" and Rihanna's "Stay."

Odell's last post on his channel was a lyric video for an original song "Feel Like The Rain" from 2014.

Since that video was posted, Odell continued to write and record music. According to the Daily Mail, he wrote many of the songs for a new movie called Forever My Girl. He also said he wrote a song for Shawn Mendes called "Something Good."

"Writing from a place of truth is a really big deal for me – whether it's about relationships, or whether it's about redemption or catharsis or whatever it is – it's not really about the subject, as it is about the progress and the experience, and the process that someone goes through without love," Odell told reporters at the film's premiere.

Odell said he drew inspiration from "truth, wherever that may lie."

Days before his death, Odell appeared on Controlled Chaos, a podcast hosted by Josh Wolf, the husband of Forever My Girl director Bethany Ashton Wolf.

Odell also posted his Forever My Girl songs on his website. Odell also performed a cover of Bob Dylan's "If You See Her, Say Hello" with Zachary Friday for Friday's YouTube channel.

Odell was found dead at a San Fernando Valley sober living home on Friday. Police do not suspect "foul play" in his death.

"The Odell family has lost our beloved son and brother, Jackson Odell, on Friday," Odell's family said in a statement. "He will always be a shining light and a brilliant, loving and talented soul. He had so much more to share. Our family will always carry that truth forward."

As an actor, Odell appeared in The Goldbergs, Modern Family and iCarly. He also wrote songs for the 2016 movie Great Plains.

Photo credit: Twitter/ Jackson Odell

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