New recordings by tragic pop star Darius have been uncovered – and could get him back in the charts. His pal, Scots singer and actress Erin Gavin, wants to record one of Darius’ unpublished demos as a tribute to him.
Darius, 41, was found unresponsive in his flat in Rochester, Minnesota, US, on August 11. A probe into his is death is ongoing. Erin revealed that he recorded at least seven songs for a new album in the years before he died.
The recordings were sent to her by record company bosses in the hope the pair could collaborate on the songs. Erin, who found fame as a Marilyn Monroe tribute act but also performs as a solo singer, said: “Seven songs recorded by Darius were sent to me by my label in the UK prior to lockdown.
“His rich tones can clearly be heard singing the lyrics to them on the demos. He was great, however for some reason he chose not to record them for release. He must have chosen to pass on them for his own reasons.”
Erin who performed her own songs at the Barrowland in Glasgow at the weekend, added: “They were then sent to me by the label to see if I’d be interested in picking them up and doing my female version of one. I had them for a wee while and was finishing off my 1950s vibe album before I took them into consideration.
“Weirdly, the songs were on my mind two weeks ago and I decided to catch up with Darius so I could see him when I’m back in LA. I wanted to chat about doing something together or get his thoughts on me potentially releasing one of them.”
Erin told how she had tried to contact Darius on August 13 – two days after he was found dead but before his death had been announced. She said: “I texted him on August 13 from the UK and the message was delivered to his phone so I had no idea there was anything wrong.
“Nobody had announced his death at this point. I had written, ‘Hi Darius. Are you still in LA? Let’s catch up’, with a smiling face emoji.
“I didn’t think much of it when he didn’t come back immediately. I thought he might be busy.
“It was only when my mum walked in and told me Darius is gone and I confirmed it on Facebook a day or two later I got a shiver down my spine. I looked at my phone and thought how freaky it was.”
Speaking of the new Darius recordings, Erin said: “His songs are really good and I’m not sure why he wouldn’t have wanted them out there. He sounded a little bit like Michael Bublé and I think they sent them to me because I’m doing a female version of that genre.”
Erin says it would be a real pleasure to record one of his songs as a tribute to him. She added: “He was such a great Scottish artist who will be sorely missed by many. It feels sad a young life has been taken because he had so much more to do and give.”
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