Liquid star Eamon Downes has died: Tributes pour in as rave pioneer behind club anthem Sweet Harmony loses five year cancer battle

Rave pioneer Eamon Downes has died following a five year battle with cancer, close friends confirmed on Tuesday. 

The talented producer, who was also known as Ame, enjoyed enormous success as one half of pioneering dance act Liquid in the early 1990s. 

It’s understood that Downes had been battling a brain tumour before his passing. The DJ is survived by wife Stella and daughter Bea, the couple’s only child. 

Confirming his death on social media, life-long friend and fellow DJ Billy Daniel Bunter wrote: ‘It’s with heartbreaking sadness that I’m letting the world know we’ve lost Eamon Downes, devoted husband to Stella, proud dad to Bea, and one of my closest friends ever. 

‘We started out in a record shop in ’89, before I was DJing. Before “Sweet Harmony.” From curry and chips in Stepney, to Labrynth, to him dropping me at Kings Cross chewing my lips off, some of the best memories of my life with Eamon.’

Signed to XL Recordings – the label responsible for launching The Prodigy – Downes and band-mate Shane Heneghan scored one of the biggest club hits of the ’90s with Sweet Harmony. 

With its heavy sampling of CeCe Rogers’ 1987 single Someday – notably its euphoric piano motif and gospel melodies – the iconic track quickly became a dance-floor staple in clubs across the United Kingdom following its initial, independent release in 1991. 

‘I still remember him playing me “Sweet Harmony” down the phone before it got cut, recalled Bunter on Tuesday. 

‘When XL signed it, he was buzzing. Sending dubplates by bike to Pete Tong and then straight to me at Labrynth, he loved that side of things.

‘Even when he was topping charts, our friendship run deep. “Liquid is Liquid” came from our shared love of Balearic and dub, and him wanting to make music that could be played at Labrynth at 530am.

‘We spoke every day. Even when he moved to Italy, 5, 10, 20 times a day. The laughs, the wind-ups, the mugs, the posters, the stupid quotes he turned into gifts. I’ll miss that so much.’ 

Bunter revealed the legendary DJ had ‘fought until the end’ after being diagnosed with cancer. 

‘He fought so hard the last five years. I’m thankful me and Sonya got to visit, to laugh, to sit with him, to just be together. I’m thankful he got our message before he passed, his family said he waited for it.

‘Every time I play a tune from ’89–’92, he’s with me. Every time I look at Bea or speak to Stella, he’s with me. Every rave, every radio show, every moment.

‘I miss you already, Eamon. I love you always.’ 

Following an early pressing of Sweet Harmony on the group’s Liquid EP, the song gained commercial traction the following year when XL released it as a single, with the track climbing to number 15 on the UK Top 40. 

The early commerical success of Liquid served to bolster XL – originally established as an independent record label in the late 1980s –  and would help them grow into one of the biggest labels of the decade. 

Further releases from XL included The Prodigy’s 1994 album Music For A Jilted Generation and its 1997 follow up, The Fat Of Land – both enormous commerical hits across the United Kingdom and mainland Europe. 

Liquid followed their initial chart success with the release of The Future Music EP – which featured the hit Liquid Is Liquid – before the group stopped producing music as a duo. 

Downes continued to release music under the Liquid moniker across the ensuing three decades, with final album Atmospheric Rave released in 2023.  

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