Photo: DJ Casper | By Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone / Yahoo | Chicago legend DJ Casper, the creator behind the beloved “Cha Cha Slide,” died Monday. He was 58. Casper’s wife, Kim, told ABC7, which first reported the news, that he had lost his battle to cancer with loved ones by his side.
He previously told the outlet in May that he had been diagnosed with kidney and liver cancer in 2016. “They went in to try to do surgery, and they found out the kidney was connected to the main artery, so they decided not to do it and just treat it.”
Casper, whose real name is Willie Perry Jr., said his original song, “The Cha-Cha Slide,” was created as aerobic exercise for his nephew who worked at Bally’s Total Fitness. “From there, it just took off. Elroy Smith from WGCI grabbed ahold of it,” he said.
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“Anybody that’s going through cancer, know that you have cancer and cancer does not have you,” Casper said in a statement before his death. “So, keep on doing the ‘Cha Cha Slide.’”
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Read more here:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/dj-casper-creator-beloved-cha-061341794.html
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OTHER NOTABLE MUSICIANS’ DEATHS
Sorry to hear about the passing of Robbie Robertson and Sugar Man Sixto Rodriguez. More of our idols and mentors gone.
If you are thinking of committing suicide, please think of how much it will hurt your family and friends. Warning Signs of Suicide – National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 and 888-628-9454 for Spanish. Learn the signs of someone who may be contemplating suicide.
If you want to know more about any of the musicians we lost, please check them out at
http://www.wikipedia.com
August 2023
9: Peppino Gagliardi, 83, Italian singer; Lil Tay, 14, American-born Canadian rapper; Robbie Robertson*, 80, Canadian Hall of Fame musician (The Band), songwriter (“The Weight”) and film composer (The Color of Money).
Read Mr. Robertson’s extensive bio here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbie_Robertson
8: Sixto Rodriguez*, 81, American singer-songwriter (“Sugar Man”), subject of Searching for Sugar Man.
Read Mr. Rodriguez’s bio here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixto_Rodriguez
7: Gillian Bibby, 77, New Zealand composer, pianist, and music teacher; DJ Casper, 58, American DJ and songwriter (“Cha Cha Slide”), kidney and liver cancer; Erkin Koray, 82, Turkish singer-songwriter and guitarist; David LaFlamme, 82, American singer and violinist (It’s a Beautiful Day); Toussaint McCall, 89, American R&B singer.
5: Tristan Honsinger, 73, American cellist; Carmen Xtravaganza, 62, Spanish-born American model and singer, depicted in Paris is Burning, lung cancer.
4: John Gosling*, 75, English keyboardist (The Kinks).
More on Mr. Gosling here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gosling_(The_Kinks_musician)
3: Carl Davis*, 86, American-British composer (The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Pride and Prejudice, Liverpool Oratorio) and conductor, brain hemorrhage; Wendell B, 65, American R&B singer, cancer.
Read more about Mr. Davis here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Davis
1: Alexander Kolker, 90, Russian film composer (Private Life of Kuzyayev Valentin, Tomorrow, on April 3rd…, Three Men in a Boat); Dom Minasi, 80, American jazz guitarist, composer and music producer; Mariana Sîrbu, Romanian violinist (I Musici) and professor (University of Music and Theatre Leipzig); Theo van Tol, 66, Dutch accordionist (Amsterdam Klezmer Band).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_2023
Photo: DJ Casper Real | https://www.facebook.com/BookTherealdjcasper/
DJ Casper, Creator of the Beloved ‘Cha Cha Slide,’ Dead at 58 // Other Notable Musicians’ Death
