Influential Chicago DJ Paul Johnson dies after Covid battle

Tributes have poured in for Johnson (Picture: FilmMagic/FilmMagic)

Chicago DJ Paul Johnson – who Daft Punk once hailed as an inspiration – has died aged 50 after contracting Covid earlier this year.

The dance star died on Wednesday after being placed in intensive care in July.

Johnson found fame in the 90s after his hit Get Get Down reached the UK Top 5 in 1999, and has remained a dancefloor favourite since.

A statement on Johnson’s Facebook confirmed his death yesterday, as it read: ‘Our greatness passed away this morning at 9am the house music legend we all know as PJ aka Paul Johnson.’

Following his hospitalisation in July, Johnson shared updates from his bed, with his last one before he was transferred to intensive care in which he told followers he would be placed on a ventilator.

Away from his most well-known track, self-taught Johnson released more than 100 albums, EPs and singles following his debut, while, in 1997, Daft Punk named him as an influence on their track Teachers, which was a roll-call of their heroes.

Throughout his career he was also a revered producer, launching his own House label Dust Traxx. According to local press, Johnson was still a fixture on the scene, DJing regularly at Le Nocturne in Uptown.

Johnson, who started out as a breakdancer, was shot in 1987, seriously injuring his leg and forcing him to use a wheelchair. In 2003 his injured leg was amputated before his other leg was amputated in 2010 following a car accident.

Looking past his health battles, Johnson said in 2014: ‘I never think about me when I’m spinning – just the people who are dancing.

‘The crappy life I’ve had health wise, that’s been nothing, man. That’s just been a shadow to what I’ve been doing, I don’t even see it, nobody sees it.

‘It’s all about the music.’

Tributes came in, as fellow DJ Mike Servito wrote on Twitter: ‘Paul Johnson taught us how to bounce to the beat. A groove like no other, honestly. This is so depressing.

‘But the records, the music will remain timeless and uplifting. We will always have that Chicago groove. godspeed PJ!’

More: US Showbiz news

Canadian DJ A-Trak added: ‘RIP Paul Johnson. Absolute legend.’

Producer Jumping Jack Frost shared a message which read: ‘We lost another legend. Rest in peace Paul Johnson who was without a doubt a house music pioneer.’

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