News : Cassius to perform for first time since death of Philippe Zdar

French house act Cassius are set to perform for the first time since the death of Philippe ‘Zdar’ Cerboneschi in 2019.

The French producer and DJ, who made up one-half of the musical duo, died at the age of 50 in 2019 after accidentally falling from a high floor of a building in Paris. He was a week away from releasing the last Cassius album, ‘Dreems’.bass’ Blanc-Francard is set to play a one-off set at the Paris Paralympics closing ceremony in honour of his late co-producer.

The performance will take place on Sunday September 8 at the Stade de France, where much of the games have taken place.

Boombass will be joining a line-up of other French electronic artists, including Jean-Michel Jarre, Anetha, Busy P, Chloé Caillet and Kiddy Smile for a three-hour “electro party” that will celebrate the country’s rich music scenes.

Cassius were pioneers of French Touch, a subgenre of house music that emerged in France in the ’90s. Alongside his work in Cassius, Zdar also produced Hot Chip’s album ‘A Bath Full of Ecstasy’, which was released after his passing. During his lifetime, he was known for mixing and producing Phoenix‘s landmark 2009 album ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix’, and over the course of his career, worked with the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Cat Power, Robyn and more. He owned and operated a studio, Motorbass Studio, in Paris.

In 2020, Cat Power, aka Chan Marshall, released a cover of Cassius‘ 2006 single ‘Toop Toop’ as a tribute to Zdar on the first anniversary of his passing.