Entertainment
Darius Campbell Danesh was at the top of the charts with Colourblind exactly 20 years ago-Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro
‘This is so so sad.’
Darius’s death has come exactly 20 years after his first chart triumph (Picture: Getty/REX/YouTube)
Darius Campbell Danesh was flying high in the charts exactly 20 years ago his week, as he enjoyed his hit single Colourblind reaching number one.
In a heartbreaking turn of events, Campbell Danesh’s death was announced by his family on Monday, aged just 41, two decades after he soared to the highest heights of the UK Singles Chart.
A statement from his family read: ‘It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Darius Campbell Danesh.
‘Darius was found unresponsive in bed in his apartment room in Rochester, Minnesota, on August 11 and was pronounced dead in the afternoon by the local medical examiners’ office.
‘The local police department have confirmed that there were no signs of intent or suspicious circumstances. The cause of his sudden death is unknown at this stage while medical examinations continue.
‘We ask that you kindly respect our wishes for privacy at this time whilst we come to terms with the tragic loss of our son and brother.’
Colourblind was a real favourite of Darius’s fans (Picture: YouTube/Darius Campbell Danesh/Mercury)
The Pop Idol and theatre star’s career included TV acting roles, triumph in ITV reality competition Popstar to Operastar and leading West End roles in the likes of Chicago and Funny Girl.
However, as news of his unexpected death came in, sparking tributes from across the industry, many fans paid homage in particular to his first song Colourblind as an ‘anthem’ and ‘an absolute banger’.
The noughties favourite reached number one with the track on August 10, 2002, where it spent two consecutive weeks at the top.
It spent two weeks at the top of the charts (Picture: YouTube/Darius Campbell Danesh/Mercury)
Darius signing merch in July 2002 (Picture: Julian Makey/REX/Shutterstock)
‘On this day 20 years ago, Darius was number 1 with Colourblind…’ tweeted one fan.
‘Colourblind popped up on tiktok last night, it’s been 20 years since it was number 1,’ wrote another, adding: ‘This is so so sad.’
Colourblind kept the likes of his Pop Idol co-star Gareth Gates off the top spot in its first week, with his song Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake), before preventing Coldplay from reaching number one with In My Place in its second week.
Other songs near the top of the charts at the time included Will Smith’s Black Suits Comin’, S Club Juniors with Automatic High, Shakira’s Underneath Your Clothes and Boys by Britney Spears, which came in at number seven.
The star later embarked on a successful theatre career (Picture: Nils Jorgensen/REX/Shutterstock)
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All in all, Colourblind also spent six weeks in the top 10, eleven weeks in the top 40 and 19 weeks overall on the charts.
Since Monday, the song has gone straight to the top of the iTunes chart, with fans calling for it to reach the top on the Official Charts again in memory of the beloved star.
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