‘Cha Cha Slide’ DJ Casper has died

DJ Casper, the music star was best known for creating the instructional dance hit Cha Cha Slide, has died aged 58 in his native Chicago following a battle with cancer.

On Monday, his wife, Kim, shared that he lost his battle to cancer with loved ones by his side.

“Casper was a fun-loving, giving person. He was a genuine, family oriented man. He loved Chicago with all his heart. He will be greatly missed,” she said in a statement.

Dr Ephraim Martin, president of Martin’s International and founder of the Chicago Music Awards and the International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA), shared that he was surprised at the death of DJ Casper, “who has been like a brother for years, was my team member and last year’s production manager”.

“I was calling him all of last week and on Saturday I let a message telling him that we had five days before the ballot closed for the awards,” Martin told The Gleaner. “He was the coordinator for the Steppers’ segment. Stepping is a big thing and he was a the master stepper and even appeared in movies.”

Martin knew DJ Casper from in the 90s and said that he was supposed to be with him in Jamaica for last year’s staging of the IRAWMA awards, “but it didn’t happen”. In recent times, they worked together on Martin’s Festival of Life productions in Chicago.

In paying tribute to DJ Casper, Martin said, “My friend ... the man who gave us the Cha Cha Slide, Casper William Perry is gone! On behalf of my wife Justice Shelvin Hall, Martin’s International, the Chicago Music Awards, Festival of Life, JSVFest and the Chicagoland music community our deepest and sincerest condolences to his wife and family on this devastating loss. We will keep the family in our prayers.”

The musician, whose real name was Willie Perry Jr, was first diagnosed with two types of cancer in 2016 but had been in remission for several years when the illness returned.

In what became his last televised interview earlier this year on ABC News, he explained: “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.

“I used to weigh 236 pounds, and I think I’m about 60 pounds less. 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.”

Following his death, ABC News released a posthumous statement in which he urged fellow cancer sufferers to keep going.

He said: “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’!”

The Cha Cha Slide topped various charts upon its release in 2000 and went on to sell more than half a million copies worldwide.

DJ Casper’s only other single release was Oops Up Side Your Head, a cover of the 1970s R&B classic by the Gap Band, but he also released the album, Out Champ, in 1999, Casper in 2001 and I Love You, which came out just last year.

On his biggest hit, Casper explained that it started life as an aerobics exercise track before it became a hit around the world.

He said: “When I first did it, I did it as an aerobic exercise for my nephew at Bally’s. From there, it just took off. I have one of the biggest songs that played at all stadiums: hockey, basketball, football, baseball; they played it at the Olympics. It was something that everybody could do.”