DJ Casper, who had No 1 hit with Cha Cha Slide, dies aged 58

Musician who created song for a personal trainer before seeing global success as a dance craze had been diagnosed with kidney and liver cancer

DJ Casper (Willie Perry, Jr.) performs during rehearsals for his performance on 'The Jenny Jones Show' in Chicago, Illinois in September 2000. (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)

DJ Casper, the US musician who had an enduring worldwide hit with Cha Cha Slide, has died aged 58. He had been diagnosed with kidney and liver cancer in 2016, and died from the illness.

Born Willie Perry Jr in Chicago where he continued to live, Casper created Cha Cha Slide in 1998 as a musical exercise routine for his personal trainer nephew, and its popularity began to snowball in the Chicago area.