Eamon Downes obit

Legendary 90s DJ Eamon Downes has died - famed for 1991 rave tune Sweet Harmony by Liquid

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An iconic 90s DJ Eamon Downes, famed for rave track Sweet Harmony, has died.

A legendary DJ has passed away just minutes after hearing a message from one of his “closest friends”, it has emerged. DJ Eamon Downes - known as Ame - became a household name in dance circles after creating the iconic hit, Sweet Harmony, with music partner Shane Heneghan (DJ Model), under the name Liquid, in 1991.

The song swept dancefloors around the world, and made Liquid an iconic name in the breakbeat scene of the early nineties. The pair were still performing under the moniker until recently.

Now, it has emerged Downes has passed away, having been battling a tumour in recent years after moving to Italy with his wife, Stella, and daughter, Bea.

DJ Billy Daniel Bunter paid a moving tribute to his musical friend, saying: “It is with heartbreaking sadness that I’m letting the world know that we have lost Eamon Downes, devoted husband to Stella, devoted father to daughter Bea, and one of my closest friends I’ve ever had. This one really hurts. I’ve been in Ibiza performing, he passed minutes after he heard mine and Sonya’s message. His family said he was waiting for us.”

He said the pair met while working at a record shop in 1989 and remained friends for the next almost three decades. “My memories and stories with this man are some of the fondest memories of my life,” he went on. “From working in that shop and discovering all the amazing music coming in from around the world in ’89 and ’90, to our little rituals like curry and chips in the Chinese across the road from his flat in Stepney before he’d take me to DJ at my first ever sets at Labrynth.

“I can still see him dropping me back to Kings Cross on a Sunday morning after those weekends, chewing my lips off, sitting at the station that now looks nothing like it did back then. It always takes me back to him, when I wait for a train in the exact same spot.

“I still remember the first time he played me Sweet Harmony down the phone before it went off to be cut to 12”. When he landed the record deal with XL, he was buzzing, just built for the record industry. He was talking to Pete Tong at FFRR, Nick Hawkes and Richard Russell at XL, all wanting his record. He was so excited by those meetings.

“When XL had a dubplate made of the Sweet Harmony remixes, they sent it to Pete Tong on a bike, and after he played it on Radio 1, the bike brought it straight to me at Labrynth, 12 Dalston Lane. He loved touches like that - “The label is biking over an acetate”.”

He added how Downes remained true to his time before stardom, and remained a close friend. “I can still remember him handing me the first-ever cut of Liquid is Liquid, just wanting it played at Labrynth at 5.30am, and boy did it hit the mark and all that we had loved when we first met.

“We’ve got so many stories, deep friendship, deep history. When our kids grew up and Bea was born, she’d come to our house and my daughter would give her her dolls, toys, teddies. Bea would call my two kids her brother and sister. That’s how close we were.

“He fought unbelievably hard over the last five years with the tumour. Kept bouncing back strong. But eventually the fight was just too much. For as long as I can remember, we spoke every day. Five, 10, 15, 20 times a day. Even after he moved to Italy, the video messages never stopped. I’m so grateful I’ve got them all, so much footage of him and my dad bantering together, both now gone.

“I’ll miss the banter. Stupid things I’d say, and next thing I know it’s printed on mugs, T-shirts, posters, delivered to my house by him, just to wind me up or give me a little laugh and keep me amused throughout the day. It’s been a very tough few years for his wife Stella, daughter Bea, and their family. Me and Sonya were able to see them when his mum was ill and when he was really unwell.

“Even when he came to the UK with a carer, we spent time with him and his brother. We visited him in Italy the past six months too, and selfishly I’d hope our time together, the music, the laughs, watching The Office, the memories and listening to music from ’89 and ’90, might somehow make him stronger. And for little glimmers, I believed they did.

“Eamon loved the industry side of music, and I say that with a big smile on my face. It was never really my thing. But he just got it.”

He said the musicians “timeless anthems will live forever with music lovers all over the world”. “I miss you already, Eamon. I love you, always,” he added.