DJ Casper, the Hitmaker Behind the 'Cha Cha Slide,' Dead of Cancer at 58: Report

The Chicago-based DJ had a memorable appearance on 'Orange Is the New Black' in 2018

DJ Casper, the Chicago DJ behind the dance floor staple “Cha Cha Slide,” has died, seven years after he was diagnosed with cancer. He was 58.

Casper’s wife Kim announced his death in a statement shared with ABC 7 Chicago, calling him a “fun-loving, giving person.”

“He was a genuine, family-oriented man,” said Kim, who did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. “He loved Chicago with all his heart. He will be greatly missed.”

Born Willie Perry Jr. in Englewood, Chicago, the DJ adopted the nickname Casper thanks to his habit of wearing white onstage. In 1998, he wrote part one of the “Cha Cha Slide” for his nephew, who was working as a personal trainer at a Bally Total Fitness.

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The song, with its now-iconic instructions, like “Slide to the left” and “reverse,” quickly became a hit in exercise classes and school gymnasiums, prompting Casper to release a new version, “Casper Slide Pt. 2,” in 2000.

“Well, actually, I’m not really surprised,” he told Vanity Fair in 2018 of its enduring popularity. “The song got real hot around 2004. And, I mean, today, they’ve been playing it like it’s brand-new. You can hear it in every stadium, every sporting event. They played it at the Olympics. You hear it everywhere, so I’m not really surprised. I’m just happy it’s still going, but I’m not surprised.”

The DJ even made a cameo on the hit Netflix series Orange Is the New Black in 2018 to dance his signature dance with Uzo Aduba’s character in a dream sequence.

Casper was diagnosed with renal and neuroendocrine cancer in 2016, though he told Vanity Fair two years later that his illness was in remission.

“If you know me you know I'm not gonna stop. I’m gonna continue to go. I will continue to go until I can’t go,” he told ABC 7 in May in what would be his final television interview. “Anybody that’s going through cancer, know that you got cancer and cancer don’t have you. So keep on doing the cha-cha slide.”

Casper is reportedly survived by his wife and four children.

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