DJ Casper, the creator of party hit “Cha Cha Slide”, has died aged 58.
The Chicago-based musician died on Monday (7 August), seven years after he was diagnosed with kidney and liver cancer.
His death was announced by his wife Kim, who told local news station ABC7 that he had died with his family by his side.
DJ Casper – real name Willie Perry Jr – released albums in 1999 and 2001. However, he was best known for being the voice behind the “Cha Cha Slide”.
He originally wrote the 2000 song, which was inspired by the Chicago stepping dance movement, as an easy-to-follow instructional routine for his nephew who taught step aerobics.
Casper, who also performed under the name Mr C The Slide Man, introduces the song with the words: “This is something new, the Casper Slide Part 2 / Featuring the Platinum Band and this time / We’re going to get funky.”
The “Casper Slide Part 1” was the original version he made for his nephew, which used the 1992 track from Dutch producer “Plastic Dreams” as a backing track.
The “Cha Cha Slide” was released in 2000, where it initially only peaked at No 83 in the US charts. However, it gained in popularity over the years, topping the UK singles chart in March 2004.
Casper in 2020— (Getty Images for iTalk Events)
The track was a staple of parties for children and adults alike in the 2000s and has continued to feature at weddings, birthdays and other family events since. A version covered by Crazy Frog was released in 2009.
Speaking about the song, Casper said in a recent interview: “When I first did it, I did it as an aerobic exercise for my nephew… From there, it just took off. Elroy Smith from WGCI grabbed ahold of it.
“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.”
In 2016, Casper was diagnosed with renal and neuroendocrine cancer. After surgery to remove the cancer was unsuccessful, he began chemotherapy and in 2018 announced that he had entered remission.
However, in an interview with ABC7 in May, Casper said that he was struggling with the illness once again and had lost a lot of weight in recent years.
“If you know me, you know I’m not going to stop,” he said. “I’m going to continue to go. I’m going to continue to go until I can’t go.”
