DJ Casper, the musician and producer best known for creating the Cha Cha Slide dance trend, has died at the age of 58.
On Monday, DJ Casper’s wife Kim confirmed to the Chicago-based news outlet ABC7 that the chart-topping star had died surrounded by his loved ones.
The performer – whose legal name was Willie Perry Jr, and also went by the monikers Mr. C The Slide Man and Casper, due to his tendency to wear all-white ensembles on stage – first began treatment for cancer in 2016.
In an interview with ABC7 last year, he said: “They diagnosed me in 2016 with two kinds of cancer, which is renal and Neuroendocrine, which is kidney and liver.
“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.”
He added at the time: “If you know me, you know I’m not going to stop. I’m going to continue to go. I’m going to continue to go until I can’t go.”
“Anybody that’s going through cancer, know that you have cancer and cancer does not have you. So, keep on doing the Cha Cha Slide,” he told the outlet.
DJ Casper first began working on the Cha Cha Slide in 1998, with the hope his nephew – who was working as an aerobics instructor at the time – could use it in his fitness classes.
The formation dance track became a local hit when it began getting radio play, prompting the star to create a “Part Two”, which garnered attention internationally, and eventually topped the UK singles chart in March 2004.
In more recent years, DJ Casper made a cameo as himself in a dream sequence in the Netflix drama Orange Is The New Black and released his third album I Love You in 2022.
Watch the music video for the Cha Cha Slide, Part Two below: