Darius pop idol

[JimmiChoux]

I've just heard that Darius has been found dead in an apartment aged 41.

Isn’t this just sublime?

This is so so sad. What happened? 41 is just no age.

I am apparently the only person in the world who thought 'Colourblind' was one of the worst songs I've ever heard however I loved his voice and his personality. Taken far too soon :( bless him and his family.

A wee tribute from Ant and Dec.

@HillyJilly from the family statement it seems Darius died of natural causes as there was no intent or suspicious circumstances.

Listen to Crazy Frog Sweet Caroline and three or four current hip hop and grime tracks and then tell us what you think!!

Thank you. Really sad :(

Crazy frog yes, but I love Sweet Caroline (shows how valid my opinion on music is!) I don't know what 'grime' IS!

You're lucky then. Avoid!

From Gareth Gates.

I'm from Glasgow, too, and we had a mutual friend in common, so I met Darius socially quite a few times, although I don't think I had seen him for about five or six years.

He was an incredibly nice guy - a lot of fun, very intelligent, good company and ridiculously handsome!

I'm very sad about this.

He does seem to have been a thoroughly nice chap.

I adored Darius. I had his picture framed on my wall. I went to see him on stage in gone with the wind, as rhett - he was amazing, despite not being even 30 he had as much gravitas as Clarke gabel ever had to play the role.

I really admired the way he picked himself up from his disastrous Britney Spears turn to come back on pop idol - others would not have had that self confidence. I used him as a great example of self belief and confidence over the years.

And you would think there would be an unpleasant arrogance there, an egoist or a narcissist. But no. Never heard a bad thing about him.

Reported

From Natasha Henstridge.

Yes he was brilliant, I loved him. He was fantastic in Chicago, too.

I always remember the transformation from Britney Spears weirdo to gorgeous, lovely hottie! It was one of those defining things of the early noughties wasn't it?

Colourblind was a great pop song as well.

It seems that he was a genuinely lovely and talented bloke, RIP Darius.

Darius on his stepsons.

He also spoke in a lovely way about Natasha and their marriage after they had divorced. No bitterness or rancour, just affection and gratitude for the happy times with her and the boys. A truly kind soul.

Watched a video of him on Pop Idol, back again after the Britney thing, suddenly so handsome and charismatic and most of all his definite talent quite obvious - his face when Simon said his performance was fantastic! Bless him. With his proud parents in the audience too. Bittersweet.

As pp said - maybe a little bit too much in that audition, probably trying a little too hard to come across as someone other than himself, but wow, he said he’d be back with a number one and have a platinum album before he was 35 and he did it. And he did it with his own songs, his own creative talent.

I know people only say nice things about a person once they've died but the anecdotes about him really make him sound like a lovely guy. So many people saying he always had time for a photo or a chat with fans etc. Ive seen loads of videos on Tik Tok of him recording messages or singing to/with someone. Despite his fame he appears to never have forgotten his roots or that fans are important

Tragic to have passed away so young

I wonder what went wrong in his marriage? They have a lot of genuine affection for each other so I'm guessing it's something logistically, work related etc. Jacqui Ainsley traded down with Guy Ritchie too (he didn't). Just my thoughts.

Yes there’s always an element of that. But he managed 20 years in show business/celebrity without, as far as I know, there ever being a single bad word said about him along the way from anyone, anywhere - big or small, ‘important’ or not. You don’t often get that.

I hear his family might have to wait eight weeks to find out the cause of his passing. Very sad.

That's dreadful. Stops them holding a funeral, saying goodbye. Guessing they'll have it in Scotland but all this is just adding to the upset and grief.

Considering he had bad health in the last few years I'm wondering if he could have accidentally over medicated with pain relief.

Actually it's really quite good, particularly the beginning.

Beautiful words of tribute released today from Gerard Butler, one of his closest friends.

Also a statement from another ex girlfriend, Claire, (John Cauldwell’s ex wife; Cauldwell himself was very good friends with Darius too) who says they parted because of touring pressure but remained fantastic friends.

It says a lot about a man when literally everyone loves him.

Darius, wherever your soul is now, you left the most wonderful legacy.