Michael Watford, the talented house singer from New Jersey and the artist behind the popular 1994 track ‘So Into You’, has passed away. Solomon, Watford’s son, made the announcement via a Facebook post on January 29th. The specific details regarding the cause of death have not been made public, although it is known that he was struggling with his health. In December 2023, a post on Instagram by Lenny Fontana had alerted Watford’s fans that the artist was receiving hospice care.
The house music star’s popularity led to an outpouring of condolences from his fans. The online community had tracked his ongoing health problems which made it apparent that Watford was enduring a tough ordeal. With the news of his passing fans have been sharing tributes including posts by fellow artists like Danny Rampling, Lenny Fontana, and Pete Heller. Watford was well-respected in the house community and his death has received much attention.
Born in Virginia and raised in New Jersey, Watford began singing at five years old and performed in the gospel group Discipline of Truth. Later, he sang with Smack Music, a house music collective, during the emergence of garage house in the US. His first album, a self-titled LP, was released in 1994 on EastWest Records and Atlantic and included a mix of house and garage. The lead song, ‘So Into You,’ topped the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in 1994. Two of his 1995 songs; ‘Love Change Over’ and ‘Come Together’, made it onto the UK top 100 charts. In 2018, Watford released his final song; a collaboration with Stefano Sorge entitled ‘Hey Everybody’.
A fundraising campaign has been initiated to help Watford’s family cover funeral costs since he did not have life insurance. Walter Neal, the organizer of the Gofundme campaign, sincerely requested the community to contribute generously to support Michael Watford’s family in their hour of need. According to Neal, many artists face financial difficulties, despite their talent, and are not guaranteed to succeed as one of the memorable artists of their genre
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