Chicago artist Boo Williams has been hospitalized. His family is raising funds to help get him back on his feet — literally.
Another DJ and producer near and dear to the Chicago house music community is facing health issues this month. Due to unspecified kidney and lung ailments, Boo Williams has been hospitalized, and his family is asking for support to help him “become mobile again.”
On Friday, February 7, Williams’ family first took to his Facebook page to share that he was in the hospital. “The bandcamp label is one of his main sources of income,” they wrote. “He has expressed his desire for privacy and wants to just make music to pay his bills (no gofundme/etc.).”
Then, on Thursday, February 13, Williams was released from the hospital, only to be readmitted soon after he left. At that point — and due to numerous requests from would-be donors — his family launched a PayPal donation portal.
In Monday update, Williams shared that he was “doing ok” and thanked all of his supporters for coming to his aid. In an Instagram Reel posted later in the day from a hospital bed, he said, “This is my current situation right now. I’m in the hospital, but I just wanted to thank a lot of people that’s donating and helping me out. I appreciate it.”
Boo Williams has been active in Chicago dance music since 1981, meaning that he’s been involved with house music since its nebulous birth in the city’s gay, Black, and Latino communities. But it wasn’t until 1994 that he started cutting tracks of his own, and recent years have seen them land on labels like Chiwax, Goldmin Music and Nuphuture Traxx.
Williams is certainly not the first house music artist to suffer from health issues as of late. In the past couple of years alone, artists like DJ Deeon, Chuck Roberts, and William S have succumbed to ailments of their own and tragically passed away.
We here at EDM Identity hope that Boo Williams makes a speedy recovery and can get back to making the music that he and his fans love.