Chicago house DJ and vocalist Ron Carroll has died aged 57
During his career in music, Carroll worked alongside the likes of Barbara Tucker and Ron Trent
Chicago house vocalist, DJ, and producer Ron Carroll has died, fellow DJ and friend of the late artist Deonte Pennington, has confirmed.
The news of Carroll’s passing was shared on Facebook on September 22, though no cause of death was disclosed. He was 57-years-old.
“The news we just received while in this hotel room for my birthday just broke my heart,” Pennington said. “Was not expecting the call to be that.”
Chicago-born Ron Carroll first began singing as a member of his church choir as a teen, later becoming interested in the city's emerging house music scene and learning to DJ.
In the late ‘80s, Carroll opened a nightclub and began performing in the house circuit in Chicago. By the early ‘90s, he began to produce music, releasing his first official record ‘My Prayer’ in 1993 alongside Hula, Kay Fingers and Ron Trent.
A year later in 1994, Carroll broke out of the Chicago scene following an encounter with Louie Vega, who offered him to write the lyrics for Barbara Tucker's ‘I Get Lifted’, which would later become a house music classic.
Following his breakout, Carroll went on to collaborate with the likes of Mike Dunn, Byron Stingily, Bob Sinclar, E-Smoove, Hardsoul, Rod Carrillo, and many more across a legendary career.
“[Ron Carroll] was that dude, a unique voice in house music, a solid DJ behind the decks, funny enough to share laughs with, but most importantly he was as real as it gets,” fellow DJ and vocalist Mr. V said in tribute.
“Was looking forward to seeing him next month at ADE and sharing the decks with him and the team, and unfortunately I can only have the moments and memories I had collected.”
Read some more tributes below.
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on Twitter
