Gerard Butler has said he is “devastated” after the sudden death of his “brother in arms” Darius Campbell Danesh.
The Scottish singer-songwriter and actor, whose family announced his death in the US aged 41 on Tuesday, was pictured with Butler in Malibu recently.
Butler shared a photo online of the pair together smiling, along with the caption: “I am devastated by the sudden passing of my dear friend Darius, a true brother in arms. My thoughts and love go to his wonderful mum and dad Avril and Booth and his two brilliant brothers Aria and Cyrus.
“To those lucky enough to have met Darius for more than a few minutes, they were deeply moved by his infectious laugh and barely containable zest for life.
“He was always armed with a smile, a booming voice, and a genuinely warm embrace that few could resist-nor would they want to!!! He was an incredible talent, a singer whose voice touched your soul and an actor with great presence.
“But, most importantly, he had the heart of a lion. It was bigger and brighter than the sun and an energy so contagious he could light up a room in seconds.”
The singer was known as Darius Danesh when he made his first bid for fame on ITV show Popstars in 2001.
He also appeared on the first series of Pop Idol, which was won by Will Young, and after coming third on the show, Campbell Danesh turned down Simon Cowell’s offer of a record deal and signed with music titan Steve Lillywhite.
“Our boy Darius was always constant and unwavering in his passion for life,” Butler said.
“But a bigger constant was his dream to inspire others to better themselves. He talked the talk but boy, did he walk the walk. He had such purity of thought, a deep wisdom and constant gratitude for people, for life, a compassion towards all.
“His hilarious self-deprecating sense of humor (he was funny as shit) allowed him to stay humble – something he valued deeply. Darius’ undying commitment to being of service to individuals- his family, his friends (none more so than me) and to the world at large made him the perfect friend.
We are very sorry to hear of the passing of Darius Campbell Danesh at such a tragically young age. We had many laughs with him on his Pop Idol journey. Our hearts go out to his lovely family. #RIP 🙏
— antanddec (@antanddec) August 17, 2022
“He led by example but he was also a teacher, as he pushed those he loved to be the best possible versions of themselves.
Butler added: “The universe unfolds in ways we may not agree with or even understand. Somewhere in there I believe there is, or will be, some meaning in why he left us so early. If it was nothing more than teaching us to live with that open heart, putting others first and never taking ourselves too seriously as we learn to traverse this wonky world we live in then, that might be enough.
“But something tells me there will be way more waves created by our boy Darius further down the line. My heart aches heavily. But going forward, I will beat my drum louder and celebrate life and its every beautiful moment because my brother showed me that was a pretty awesome way to go about it.”
Darius was found unresponsive in bed in his apartment in Rochester, Minnesota (Andy Butterton/PA)
The Iceman director Ariel Vroman replied to the post, saying: “Amazing words my brother – we will miss Darius a lot.”
Campbell Danesh’s debut single, Colourblind, was released in July 2002 and went straight to number one, marking the start of a run of top 10 releases.
Since his death the song has re-entered music charts and on Wednesday morning was in top spot on the iTunes download chart.
Campbell Danesh’s family said in a statement he was “found unresponsive in bed in his apartment room in Rochester, Minnesota, on August 11 and was pronounced dead in the afternoon by the local medical examiners’ office”.
Local police confirmed there were “no signs of intent or suspicious circumstances”, with the cause of his death unknown at this stage, the family added.
Former Pop Idol judges Simon Cowell, Pete Waterman and the runner-up from the first series, Gareth Gates, also paid tribute to Campbell Danesh following the news.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here