A highly influential Ibiza DJ and producer has been sidelined by a potentially fatal illness. José Padilla, who pioneered the chill-out and Balearic styles, has been diagnosed with colon cancer and is awaiting an operation. He has launched a GoFundMe for help with his expenses.
“Some days ago I was taken to hospital and I have been diagnosed with colon cancer and now I am waiting for an operation,” Padilla wrote in a Facebook post. “My situation is very bad; I am completely broke after five months with no income whatsoever and no way to pay my rent, so humbly I ask if you can help me with your donations.”
Café Del Mar Mainstay
José Padilla’s tenure on the White Isle extends much further back than his pioneering work in balearic and chill-out. He moved to Ibiza in 1975 and climbed the industry ladder by gigging at some of the nightlife destination’s iconic clubs.
Perhaps most important to his career was the residency he landed at Café del Mar in 1991. He compiled the first mix album of the club’s namesake a few years later – the first in a series via U.K. record label React which still continues to this day.
Donations to José Padilla can be made via his GoFundMe page, which has amassed nearly €28,000 of its €35,000 goal at the time of writing.
Image credit: José Padilla Facebook
