Darius Danesh's family remember singer as they mark first anniversary of death

05 August 2023 , 21:56

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Darius Danesh died almost a year ago (Image: ITV)

Darius Danesh ’s grieving dad has vowed his son “with a heartfelt smile” will never be forgotten.

The Scottish singer, who rose to fame in 2001 on Pop Idol, died in his sleep at a flat in Rochester, Minnesota, almost a year ago on August 11. Booth Danesh said his wife Avril and their two sons Cyrus and Aria, will hold a private memorial at home on Thursday, but had hopes for a larger memorial celebration at Glasgow Cathedral in the future.

Booth said: “A year has passed with great difficulty grieving as a family the loss of our beloved Darius. We have been unable to arrange anything public for his anniversary. We shall be privately holding it with our other two beloved sons and close friends.

“As his funeral was privately undertaken with invitations, we are hoping to hold a future memorial and celebration of his life in Glasgow Cathedral.” In September last year, an investigation and autopsy ruled that Darius had died from “inhalation of chloroethane” and that his death was an accident.

Lauren Cheek with Darius Danesh

He had been suffering from chronic pain at the time of his death, following a car accident in 2010 in Spain that left him with a broken neck. Booth added: “Darius touched peoples’ hearts and minds with his meaningful songs, his warmth, heartfelt smile, joyful companionship and generous love and care.

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“His dedicated work for many charities, serving also as an Ambassador for the Prince’s Trust and the personal sacrifices he made until the last day of his life, will not be forgotten. His philanthropic ideas and plans for the environment and education to make people‘s life better will continue as part of his legacy.”

Last month, the late singer's girlfriend revealed what the star's mum told her after his autopsy. Darius' cause of death was ruled as a result of "inhalation of chloroethane", but Lauren Cheek has since revealed the singer was "living with this heart condition he didn’t know he had.

“His mum told me they only found out after they did the autopsy" she said. "His heart was twice the size it was supposed to be, which was fitting, because that is genuinely how he was — he had so much love.

“The autopsy also found he was living with a broken neck, but he refused to get help or complain about it. I think he used (chloroethane) because he was in so much pain and he didn’t want to take pills, not even aspirin. That’s what killed him — the substance mixed with his heart and he couldn’t take it," reports The Sun.

In September, autopsy documents obtained by the PA news agency listed "toxic effects of chloroethane" in addition to "suffocation" as having contributed to Darius' death. The death was ruled an accident by the medical examiner.

Nicola Fahey