House music icon Erick Morillo was found dead in his Miami Beach home this morning. Morillo was a key figure in helping to spread the gospel of house music the world over with timeless classics like ‘I Like To Move It’ on Strictly Rhythm in the early 90s and went on to become an internationally recognized talent, earning countless DJ awards and accolades along the way.
Morillo was 49 years of age and was recently arrested on sexual battery charges in Miami.
Side note: I’ve known Erick since 94′. I wrote this blurb with tears in my eyes, as I looked up to Erick early on in my career. He wasn’t evil, he wasn’t bad, however he did struggle with the same demons that many people in the dance music world struggle with, namely addiction. It seems every time he made some headway with his addiction he was quickly swept up by a storm of hangers-on who all but stuffed his pockets with party favors at any given opportunity.
Erick will be dearly missed.