House music pioneer Philippe Zdar of Cassius found dead after accidental fall

by Ben Boddez on June 20th, 2019 at 2:34 PM

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French DJ Philippe Zdar, one half of the house music duo Cassius, was pronounced dead on Wednesday (June 19) after falling through the window of a 19-storey building in Paris. He was 52 years old.

Zdar, whose real name is Philippe Cerboneschi, was discovered by his booking agent, Anthony Ferrat. Police are investigating the death as an accident.

Cassius is set to release its sixth studio album, Dreems, tomorrow (June 21).

Zdar and his Cassius collaborator, Boom Bass, began working together as a production duo in 1988 under the alias La Funk Mob. They ultimately changed the name to Cassius in 1996, receiving more recognition as an albums artist.

Cassius’s first album, 1999, is widely acclaimed as a highly influential dance record that shifted the direction of house music, blending it with aspects of hip-hop and funk. The sound inspired other French electronic acts like Daft Punk and Air, and became known as the “French Touch”.

Working primarily with French hip-hop icon MC Solaar in their early days, Cassius ultimately became highly in-demand as a production team with North American acts after hitting No. 1 on the U.S dance charts with “The Sound of Violence” in 2002.

Zdar received production credits with acts like Chromeo, Franz Ferdinand, and Kanye West, and won a Grammy for his work on Phoenix’s breakthrough record, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

Guests on Cassius’s 2016 album, Ibifornia, included Pharrell Williams, Mike D of the Beastie Boys, OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, and Cat Power.

Zdar also contributed to film scores, including working with Trent Reznor on The Social Network and recently contributing to the animated musical Sing.

Many of Zdar’s fellow artists and collaborators shared their tributes on social media.