DJ Casper, born Willie Perry Jr., performs throughout rehearsals for his efficiency on The Jenny Jones Present in Chicago in September 2000. Perry has died at age 58.
Raymond Boyd/Getty Pictures
conceal caption
toggle caption
Raymond Boyd/Getty Pictures
DJ Casper, born Willie Perry Jr., performs throughout rehearsals for his efficiency on The Jenny Jones Present in Chicago in September 2000. Perry has died at age 58.
Raymond Boyd/Getty Pictures
The musical thoughts behind the “Cha Cha Slide” — the ever-present turn-of-the-millennium dance hit performed at celebrations and in gyms the world over — has died.
DJ Casper died Monday after a protracted battle with most cancers, his spouse informed ABC7 in Chicago. He was 58.
Born Willie Perry Jr., the Chicago native initially recorded a model of the “Cha Cha Slide” within the late Nineteen Nineties as an cardio train for his nephew, who was working as a private coach at Bally Complete Health.
YouTube
Casper mentioned the monitor shortly took off and he received requests to carry out it at native golf equipment and events, in line with WBEZ. Chicago’s WGCI-FM radio station aired the tune in 2000 earlier than it was finally picked up by Common Data.
“I actually did not anticipate the ‘Cha Cha Slide’ to do what it did,” Casper mentioned in an interview with Chicago’s PBS station WTTW in 2018. “All the pieces hit all of sudden, Common Data contact me, they wished me to go on a tour and it began getting actual loopy.”
In response to Pitchfork, Casper composed a brand new model that 12 months initially known as “Casper Slide Half 2,” which turned the “Cha Cha Slide” that caught hearth within the U.S. and hit No. 1 on the charts in the UK in 2004.
From humble exercise monitor to international phenomenon, the “Cha Cha Slide” endures to at the present time as a staple at weddings, birthday events, college phys ed lessons and extra.
Within the tune, Casper calls out easy-to-follow steps that invite dancers to slip to the left and proper, criss cross, Charlie Brown and — after all — cha cha actual easy.
Now a popular culture mainstay, the “Cha Cha Slide” has stomped its means into reveals like Orange is the New Black and Saturday Night time Stay.
YouTube
Casper informed ABC7 that he was recognized with kidney and liver cancers in 2016 and misplaced about 60 kilos because of this, however he by no means misplaced the upbeat angle that pervaded his most well-known tune.
“Anyone that is going by way of most cancers, know that you’ve most cancers and most cancers doesn’t have you ever,” Casper informed the station. “So, carry on doing the ‘Cha Cha Slide.’ “
