Industry stalwart Samuel Guetta found dead in Ibiza home

Ibiza-dwelling dance music mainstay Samuel Guetta was found dead in his villa home. Guetta had been based in Ibiza since 1997 and was the founder of the Ibiza Voice website, as well as former manager of Cadenza Records and that label’s Luciano, credited with assisting the DJ’s rapid rise to the Ibiza A-list in recent years.

Details on the cause of death have yet to emerge. Guetta is survived by his wife and two children, and a statement on the Ibiza Voice website played up his larger-than-life reputation. “Samuel was a true original: one of the most charismatic, passionate, excitable, energetic, endearing, infuriating, inimitable human beings we ever had the privilege to know.”

Ibiza Voice painted Guetta as someone who “adored drama”, embodying the site’s tagline of ‘Hype, lies and gossip’. “Samuel was a walking exclamation mark who whirled through rooms trailing cigarette smoke and superlatives…. Make no mistake: Samuel relished playing politics and gleefully worked his insider status but everything he did was driven by love. He truly believed in the power of music to elevate and unite people.”

Involved in the dance industry as far back as the late ‘80s, Guetta spent his early professional years across his hometown city of Paris as well as Los Angeles, before making his defining move to Ibiza where he was responsible for managing the Space brand’s worldwide tours. He was involved extensively in artist management and promotion, and has received kudos for elevating Cadenza’s reputation, as well as being the brains behind the Vagabundos party concept.