Legendary Chicago house pioneer Lee Collins has died
The Soul In The Hole co-founder underwent “urgent treatment” after he was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year
Title image source: www.mixmag.net
Chicago house pioneer and Soul In The Hole boss Lee Collins has died, fellow DJ and label co-founder Sadar Bahar has confirmed.
Bahar shared the news on Instagram on Sunday, August 24, writing: “With great sadness and a heavy heart, we mourn the loss of a king and legendary pioneer in the house and disco family, Lee Collins.”
“Take your rest, big bro,” he wrote. “I thank the Most High for the time we were blessed to share with you. Please keep Cassandra, David, and the entire Collins family in your prayers.”
In January, a GoFundMe page was launched to help support “urgent” medical care for Collins after he was diagnosed with cancer.
Launched by Bahar and Ornella Cicchetti, the founder of his affiliated record label Sounds Familiar, the campaign asked fans to “show him the same love he has given us all these years”.
Sounds Familiar shared a statement on Sunday following Collins’ death, calling him a “silent master who never put himself on a pedestal, even though the podium of greatness is where he always belonged.”
“His calming presence, the way he communicated through sound, his sheer realness touched everyone around him,” they shared. “Many more should have had the possibility to experience Lee Collins, and yet many never truly did.”
Lee Collins first emerged on the house music scene in Chicago in the 1980s, helping to propel the sound alongside the likes of Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles.
Alongside Bahar, Collins was a founding member of Soul In The Hole, a record label and collective that would host events throughout Chicago in the early ‘90s.
Article Originally Posted on www.mixmag.net