Skip to main content

Cassius’ Philippe ‘Zdar’ Cerboneschi has died

The French house pioneer has died after falling from a high window in Paris...

Legendary producer and pioneer of the French Touch sound  Philippe ‘Zdar’ Cerboneschi has died.

According to a statement given by his agent to French newspaper Le Monde, the influential Cassius and Motorbass artist died after accidentally falling from a “a high floor of a Parisian building".

Zdar founded Cassius alongside Hubert Blanc-Francard in 1989, releasing their iconic debut album, ‘1999’, ten years later. In the mid-90s he joined Etienne De Crécy to form Motorbass. The duo’s solo album, ‘Pansoul’, is considered one of the most influential electronic records to ever come out of France, and a touchstone of the unmistakable French Touch sound.

An acclaimed and beloved producer and DJ, Zdar had worked with many popular artists over the years including Kanye West, MC Solaar, Beastie Boys, Cat Power and Pharrell. His work on Parisian pop rock band Phoenix’s debut album ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix’ in 2009 would go on to earn him a grammy.

Cassius’ new album, ‘Dreams’, is scheduled to be released this Friday 21st June.

Tributes have been pouring in for Zdar since news of his tragic death broke, with the likes of The Black Madonna, Skream, Vampire Weekend’s Rostam and Hudson Mohawke taking to Twitter to share their condolences for the pivotal artist.