‘Cha Cha Slide’ creator DJ Casper, a Chicago favourite, dies at 58 after battling most cancers.
DJ Casper, creator of the dance hit “Cha Cha Slide,” which has performed at celebrations and gymnasiums worldwide for the reason that flip of the millennium, has died aged 58 after a battle with most cancers, his spouse advised Chicago’s native ABC7.
“Casper was a fun-loving, giving individual,” his spouse mentioned. “He was a real, family-oriented man. He liked Chicago with all his coronary heart. He will probably be significantly missed.”
Born William “Willie” Perry Jr., the native Chicagoan initially recorded an early model of the “Cha Cha Slide” within the late ’90s as an cardio train for his nephew, a private coach at Bally Whole Health. The monitor shortly turned a neighborhood hit, and he was requested to play it at native golf equipment and events.
DJ Casper, so named for the white garments he typically wore when performing onstage, composed a brand new model of the track known as “Casper Slide Half 2,” which might develop into the “Cha Cha Slide” identified and liked all through the US earlier than catching hearth on the charts within the UK and elsewhere. When Elroy Smith at Chicago’s WGCI-FM radio station first aired it in 2000, Common Data picked it up quickly after.
“I actually didn’t count on the ‘Cha Cha Slide’ to do what it did,” Casper mentioned in a 2018 interview with Chicago’s PBS station WTTW. “Every part hit unexpectedly; Common Data contacted me, they wished me to go on a tour, and it began getting actual loopy.”
The track and accompanying dance have develop into popular culture mainstays, enjoying at events and sporting occasions worldwide and showing on exhibits like Saturday Evening Stay and Orange is the New Black.
“I’ve one of many greatest songs that performed in any respect stadiums: hockey, basketball, soccer, baseball; they performed it on the Olympics,” mentioned Casper. “It was one thing that everyone might do.”
In 2016, Casper was recognized with kidney and liver cancers and misplaced round 60 lbs. The artist had even been touring with James Brown, however every part stopped following his most cancers analysis.
“Anyone that’s going by most cancers, know that you’ve most cancers and most cancers doesn’t have you ever,” mentioned Casper. “So carry on doing the ‘Cha Cha Slide.’”