Peter Rauhofer, a name known to many who have attended big club parties, listened to a remix of a pop song, or gone to a gay circuit event in the last decade and a half, died today due to complications from brain cancer. He was 48.
His manager reported the news via Facebook, saying that his mother is transporting him back to Austria, where he was originally from, to be buried, but that "his heart will always be in New York City."
Rauhofer's manager only reported three weeks ago, on April 17, that Rauhofer had been diagnosed with brain cancer after being rushed to the hospital following a seizure.
As his manager writes, poignantly, today:
It makes me sad, not only that I have lost a friend, but that the world has lost an amazing talent and that future generations will never get to understand the magic that Peter created night after night all over the world. He is gone too soon but we will always have the vast body of music that Peter left for us. Through his music, Peter will live forever. The brightest stars always burn out too soon. Peter, you were loved and you will be terribly missed. Goodbye my friend. Please rest in peace knowing that you have brought so much joy to so many of us. I ask that his true fans keep his legacy alive by sharing his music with anyone who may not have had the opportunity to experience it for themselves.
Rauhofer owned Star 69 records, a tribal house label he founded in 1999, and he was a frequent Madonna collaborator. Until 2007, when the club closed, he was a resident DJ at Roxy in New York City, and made frequent appearances at clubs and events all over. He was also one of the early winners of the then new Grammy Award for remixing, in 2000, for his remix of Cher's "Believe," and you can find a bunch of his remixes currently floating around on Hype Machine.