Darius Campbell-Danesh, a Scottish singer-songwriter, died on August 11 at the age of 41. He was discovered unconscious and unresponsive at his Rochester residence. His death was revealed in an official statement issued by his family, which read:
“We regret to inform you of the death of Darius Campbell Danesh.” On August 11, Darius was discovered comatose in bed in his apartment room in Rochester, Minnesota, and was declared dead in the afternoon by the local medical examiner’s office.”
While local police had ruled out foul play, medical exams to identify the cause of death were still continuing, according to the statement. Darius Campbell-Danesh rose to prominence after appearing in the British talent competition Popstars in 2001. A year later, he reached the finals of another similar program called Pop Idol, where he turned down a record contract from Simon Cowell in favor of working with record producer Steve Lillywhite.
Who Is Darius Campbell-Danesh? His career in the entertainment sector
Campbell-Danesh made his professional debut in a non-singing part in The Trojans in 1990. He also appeared at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. In July 2002, he released his debut song, Colourblind, after appearing on reality music talent competitions such as Popstars and Pop Idol. In 2004, he released his first album, Dive In. He not only wrote all of the songs on this album, but he also produced one of its tunes, Better Than That. He subsequently published his novel, Sink or Swim. The book was a Sunday Times sixth best-seller on the different sides of the music business. Dairius also collaborated with Coldplay and Oasis on the War Child charity album. Live Twice, his second album was released in October 2004, and the title song became one of his most popular songs.
At the age of 25, he took over for Billy Flynn on Broadway, playing Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls. In 2008, he played Rhett Butler in Sir Trevor Nunn’s musical production of Gone with the Wind. Darius was the winner of the talent competition Popstar to Operastar in 2010. That same year, he made his opera debut with Carmen and starred on the tour The History of the Big Bands. He was cast as the lead in From Here to Eternity the Musical in July 2013. He performed in Funny Girl at the Savoy Theatre two years later, in 2015.
Twitter users pay tribute
In the entertainment sector, Darius Campbell-Danesh was a well-known name. People flocked to Twitter to express their condolences after learning of his tragic death:
Number 1 in the uk charts 20 years ago today and back at number 1 in the iTunes Charts today! So so sad 😞 #colourblind #Darius RIP Darius Campbell Danesh 💔 pic.twitter.com/lstHusI7hX
— thelostgirl (@Thelostgirl74) August 16, 2022
Very sad to hear that the Pop Idol and Theatre Star Darius Campbell Danesh has died, another great talent has sadly left us. RIP Darius 😒
— Nancy Thornton (@NancyThornton01) August 16, 2022
Darius is survived by relatives of his family, the identity of whom is unknown. He married actress Natasha Henstridge in February 2011 and they divorced in 2018.