DJ Casper "Cha Cha Slide" creator, has died at 58

DJ Casper, the 58-year-old musician and producer best known for pioneering the Cha Cha Slide dance fad, has died.

DJ Casper's wife Kim revealed to Chicago-based news source ABC7 on Monday that her husband died surrounded by his loved ones.

The entertainer, whose legal name was Willie Perry Jr. and who also went by the stage names Mr. C The Slide Man and Casper due to his penchant for wearing all-white costumes on stage, began cancer treatment in 2016.

He told ABC7 last year, "They diagnosed me in 2016 with two types of cancer, renal and Neuroendocrine, which is kidney and liver."

"They went in to try to do surgery, but they found out the kidney was connected to the main artery, so they decided not to do it and just treat it."

"If you know me, you know I'm not going to stop," he continued at the time. I'm going to keep going. I'm going to keep going till I can't anymore."

"Anyone going through cancer should understand that you have cancer, but cancer does not have you." So keep performing the Cha Cha Slide," he told the publication.

DJ Casper began developing the Cha Cha Slide in 1998, hoping that his nephew, who was working as an aerobics instructor at the time, could incorporate it into his fitness sessions.

When the formation dance track began receiving radio play, it became a local hit, motivating the star to develop a "Part Two," which gained international notice and eventually topped the UK singles chart in March 2004.

DJ Casper made an appearance as himself in a dream sequence in the Netflix program Orange Is the New Black in recent years, and his third album I Love You was published in 2022.