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DJ Casper, a Chicago musician whose song “Cha Cha Slide” became a worldwide smash after its debut in 2000, died on Monday after a long battle with cancer. The late disc jockey, hype guy, and lyricist was 58 years old.
DJ Casper’s death was announced by his wife Kim, according to ABC7 Chicago. In a statement, she referred to her late spouse as “a fun-loving, giving person.” “He was an honest, family-oriented man.” He was madly in love with Chicago. He’ll be sorely missed.”
Following its release in August 2000, “Cha Cha Slide” spent five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and has remained a global smash. DJ Casper discussed the song’s fame and his cancer diagnosis in what would be his final television interview before his death.
He said he never expected “Cha Cha Slide” was going to launch him to global stardom. “When I first did it, I did it as an aerobic exercise for my nephew at Bally’s,” DJ Casper told the news outlet in May. “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,” he added. “It was something that everybody could do.”
The deceased DJ was also initially on a tour with James Brown, but his cancer diagnosis made him withdraw. “They diagnosed me in 2016 with two kinds of cancer, which is renal and Neuroendocrine, which is kidney and liver,” said DJ Casper. “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.”
DJ Casper also touched on the health challenges he endured following his diagnosis, revealing that he lost significant weight and had issues eating, ABC7 Chicago reported. “I used to weigh 236 pounds, and I think I’m about 60 pounds less,” he said. “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.”
Despite his health struggles, DJ Casper shared some words of encouragement to other cancer patients. “Anybody that’s going through cancer, know that you have cancer and cancer does not have you,” Casper said. “So, keep on doing the ‘Cha Cha Slide.’”
