DJ Casper facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
DJ Casper
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DJ Casper photo by Dionn Renee
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Willie Perry Jr. |
| Also known as | Mr. C The Slide Man |
| Born | May 31, 1965 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | August 7, 2023 (aged 58) |
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| Years active | 1998–2023 |
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Willie Perry Jr. (May 31, 1965 – August 7, 2023), better known as DJ Casper (also known as Mr. C The Slide Man), was an American DJ, hype man, and songwriter. Born and raised in Chicago, he was known as "Casper" due to frequently being clad in all white attire on stage.
Contents
Career
Perry's first hit record, "Casper Slide Pt. 1" – also known as "Cha Cha Slide" – was created by Perry for his nephew, who worked as a personal trainer at a Bally Total Fitness in 1998. After the song grew in popularity as an aerobic exercise at fitness clubs and PE in schools, Casper created a second song in 2000, titled "Casper Slide Pt. 2", which was picked up by Elroy Smith at Chicago's radio station, WGCI-FM.
The song became a hit in Chicago in 2004, when the city's M.O.B. Records record label became involved as well, helping Perry create a whole compilation album with other Chicago-based artists to promote the dance. "Cha Cha Slide" was later picked up by Universal Records.
Perry made an appearance as a DJ in a season 6 episode of Orange Is the New Black, in Crazy Eyes' hallucination of the prisoners and guards line dancing to the Cha Cha Slide.
Illness and death
In January 2016, Perry Jr. was diagnosed with kidney cancer and neuroendocrine cancer. After unsuccessful surgery the same month, he began chemotherapy. In an interview in July 2018, he stated he was in remission. In 2019, Perry stated that he beat his liver and kidney cancers and said he is a changed man, stating "that was God's way of just slowing me down just a little bit."
Perry Jr. died of kidney and liver cancer on August 7, 2023, at the age of 58.
Discography
Albums
- Out Champ (1999)
- Casper (2001)
- I Love You (2022)
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||
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| US | US R&B |
AUS | GER | IRE | NL | SWI | UK | |||
| "Cha Cha Slide" | 2000 | 83 | 24 | 64 | 83 | 3 | 12 | 86 | 1 | Cha-Cha Slide: The Original Slide Album |
| "Oops Up Side Your Head" | 2004 | – | – | – | – | 25 | – | – | 16 | Non-album single |
