Ron Carroll
Carroll in Amsterdam, October 2008
Carroll in Amsterdam, October 2008
Background information
Born
Ronald Michael Carroll

April 20, 1968
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died (aged 57)
Occupations
  • DJ
  • singer
  • producer
  • songwriter
InstrumentsVocals
Years active1994–2025

Ronald Michael Carroll (April 20, 1968 – September 21, 2025) was an American DJ, singer, songwriter, and music producer. He was primarily active on the house music circuit and openly gay. He was a proponent for the LGBTQ+ and HIV Positive communities and disclosed his own diagnosis just weeks before his death.

Carroll worked with many of house's most famous producers including E-Smoove, Maurice Joshua, Bob Sinclar, and Rod Carrillo. Carroll also produced, usually with partner Spero Pagos, for other vocalists or his own songs.

Musical career

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Carroll was born in Chicago in 1968. As a boy, he learned to sing while a member of his church choir. As a teenager, he was a fan of Kiss, but became interested in house music when he attended a high school dance and spent time watching the DJ perform.[1] Carroll started performing as a DJ in the late 1980s in a club he himself opened. He released his first official record, "My Prayer", in 1993, a track produced by local producers Hula (from the Outhere Brothers), Kay Fingers, and Ron Trent.

In 1994, Carroll got his first big break when he attended the Winter Music Conference in Miami. Still an unknown outside Chicago, Carroll walked up to Louie Vega, who gave him a chance to write the lyrics to Barbara Tucker's "I Get Lifted".[1] That allowed him an opportunity to join Mike Dunn and Byron Stingily, also in the Chicago house scene, in the Deep Soul production company as a singer, songwriter, and producer.[2] Carroll wrote the lyrics for six tracks on The Purist, Stingily's album, and also wrote and produced the anthem "The Sermon". In 1996, he met Greek American producer Spero Pagos, and the two created MOS Productions (for Ministers Of Sound), for the UC/Afterhours label.

On the label, Carroll met Mazi Namvar, who introduced him to the European house scene leading to him taking part in the French house classics "My Love" (produced by Kluster) and "Lucky Star" (produced by Superfunk, an electronic band from Marseille, France, both released in 2000. In 2001, he opened his own label, Body Music Records. Carroll's work as a singer in Europe brought him into contact with Dutch producers Hardsoul in 2003, for whom he wrote and sang in "Back Together". Next, in 2004 was "What a Wonderful World" for Bob Sinclar and Axwell, a track that appeared on Sinclar's 2004 album Enjoy.

In 2024, Carroll began collaborating with Rod Carrillo which produced some of his last releases: "Get Up" [3], "Lifted in Sound"[4], "Get On The Floor"[5] and "Lost"[6] Carroll died from a heart attack on September 21, 2025, at the age of 57.[7]

Discography

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Albums

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Singles

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Ron Carroll


RC Groove/RC Groove Project

Testament

Other aliases

Production

Appears on

References

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  1. ^ a b "Carl's Garage" (2002). "Mr.Ron Carroll, Chicago, Usa - The Official Interview, 2002". Retrieved December 1, 2007.
  2. ^ The DJ List. "Ron Carroll's page in TheDJList.com". Retrieved December 1, 2007.
  3. ^ "Talking Soulful House with Rod Carrillo and Ron Carroll Alongside 'Get Up'".
  4. ^ "Lifted In Sound". AllMusic.
  5. ^ ""Get on the Floor" EP by Rod Carrillo & Ron Carroll".
  6. ^ "Ron Carroll "Lost"". iheart.
  7. ^ Legendary Chicago vocalist and DJ Ron Carroll dies aged 57
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