Cha Cha Slide creator DJ Casper dies aged 58 after kidney and liver cancer battle
8 August 2023, 07:23 | Updated: 8 August 2023, 08:10
DJ Casper, who created the Cha Cha Slide, has died aged 58.
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Willie Perry JR's wife Kim announced he had died after a battle with kidney and liver cancer.
"They diagnosed me in 2016 with two kinds of cancer, which is renal and Neuroendocrine, which is kidney and liver," he had told ABC 7 in Chicago.
"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."
The Chicago native also spoke about how he had struggled to eat with his illness, which he was diagnosed with in 2016.
"I used to weigh 236 pounds, and I think I'm about 60 pounds less," he said previously.
Mr C The Slide Man - Cha-Cha Slide (Official Video)
"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."
The performer, who also performed under the stage name Mr C The Slide Man, was best known for the Cha Cha Slide, a line dance song where he would instruct people how to move throughout.
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The song was released in 2000 but endures as a classic "cheesy" song in nightclubs and bars.
It spent five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and got to number one of the UK Singles Chart in 2004.
DJ Casper invented it as an aerobics routine for his nephew and claimed he would get asked to perform it at parties in Chicago.
It was picked up by one of the city's radio stations before Universal Records got hold of it and released it.
"When I first did it, I did it as an aerobic exercise for my nephew at Bally's," Casper said.
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"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."
He even referenced his smash hit in a posthumous statement via ABC 7.
"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 said.
