Renowned DJ and music producer Eric Morillo, who helped popularize house music, was found dead on Miami Beach, officials said Monday. He was 49 years old.
Officers were called to Morillo’s residence on Monday, where he was found dead, police said. The cause of death has not yet been determined.
The Miami Beach Department said: ‘There are no clear indications of a foul game. “The cause of death will be determined by the Miami Dead Medical Examiner’s Office.”
Morillo was arrested by Miami Beach police last month on charges of sexual assault in an alleged attack in December. He was scheduled to appear in court on Friday, police said.
Morillo denied the allegations.
“This is a very unfortunate incident where our detectives worked hard to provide some kind of closure for the victim,” Miami Beach Police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said in a statement in Aug. August.
For nearly 30 years, Morillo was a popular figure in the world of house music, a post-disco voice born in Chicago in the 1980s and taken on a global tour in the coming decade by British rave DJs including Paul Ockenfold and Pete Tong.
Born in Colombia and once living in New York City, Morillo was the second wave house builder, who sometimes tied his diva-sounding voice (Robin S, “Show Me Love”) to more aggressive percussion and world influences, including dub, reggaeton. . And Latin flavors.
One result was Reel 2 Real’s “Go On Move”, better known as “I Like to Move It”, featuring the Trinidadian-born American artist Mad Stuntman’s Petos Vocals. It has reached chart positions in the United States and Europe.
In the 1990s and 2010s, Morillo was a one-man economic machine in the industry, distributing record labels such as Sublime and Subusa, promoting and managing artists, performing as the top the f-the-marquee DJ in superclubs.
In 2005, he helped Pacha at the Spanish party Eliza open a 2,665-capacity venue in New York at a time when big nightclubs were becoming the biggest stage for dance music artists. Places like Pacha helped set the stage for huge celebrations such as the 2010 electronic dance music era, Las Vegas superclubs and the Electric Daisy Carnival.
In the mid-2000s, Morillo released three tracks featuring rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, an occasional presence on the Miami club scene at the time.
At the 2012 Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, the chart-topping act of the Swedish house mafia’s Steve Angelo taught Morillo on Natage “how to make a DJ in clubs.”
He made Morillo’s sunrise performance in Ibiza a symbol of the party lifestyle, and in a 2016 interview with BBC Radio One’s Tong admitted that his use of alcohol and drugs ends with ketamine addiction.
The DJ never seemed to lose his credibility with the Puritans of dance music. He sometimes performed back-to-back with Danny Tenaglia, one of the most famous DJs in house music.
“It will be one that other DJs will want to go and check out,” said Egil Alvik, a Swedish “radio” vendor from Los Angeles, the founder of Groveradio.com. “He just didn’t play the record in the next record. He’ll level up the sounds and make it, drop it and recreate it.”
Morillo was a musical creator who led fans of dance music for new artists, he said.
“People found new remixes, dubs, vocal records with him.” “He helped manage and promote different DJs. He did all the things that many DJs want them to do, one or two of them.”
Anthony Kusumano Contributed.
