(RightWing.org) – English dance music star Paul Spencer has died of cancer. As a founding member of the 90’s dance trio Dario G, Spencer achieved a US Number 1 in 1997 with his best-known hit, “Sunchyme.” He was diagnosed with rectal cancer last year.
Paul Spencer was born in Crewe, England, in 1971. After becoming a DJ in the early 1990s, he went on to form the dance group Dario with fellow DJ Scott Rosser in 1997. Shortly after that, they brought in a third member, Stephen Spencer (no relation to Paul).
That same year, they had their first hit with “Sunchyme,” based on a sample of The Dream Academy’s 1985 song “Life in a Northern Town.” The track reached Number 2 in the UK Singles chart and was also popular in the US, where it hit the top spot in the Hot Dance Club party chart.
Along the way to their first hit, Dario had to change its name after another artist called Dario threatened to sue them. They evaded that threat by relabeling themselves as Dario G. Spencer chose the added initial because, at the time, the manager of his favorite soccer team, Crewe Alesandra FC, was Dario Gradi. He later said he was also inspired by saxophonist Kenny G.
Dario G had another hit in May 1998 with “Carnaval de Paris,” which they recorded as a tribute to the 1998 Soccer World Cup. This reached number five on the UK charts and became famous in the US when the country’s men’s soccer team used it in their first match after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
In recent years, Spencer had been performing solo, still using the name Dario G. Then, last June, he announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 rectal cancer and had a shadow on his liver. He died on June 17.
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