Progressive house DJ Chriss Ronson has died aged 48

Hungarian DJ and label founder Chriss Ronson has passed away at the age of 48 following a lengthy illness, Electronic Groove reports.

The news was shared in a progressive house Facebook group yesterday, January 11, by a friend of the late DJ, who wrote: “My heart is heavy from the weight of this loss. Thank you for the memories, the great sets, your kind persona. You will be missed.”

Born in Budapest in the late ‘70s, Chriss Ronson first began performing DJ sets at the age of 17, playing across the Hungarian capital.

Ronson became a regular at popular Kecel venue Club Korona, where he joined the bill as a resident DJ as part of their BPM parties, performing regularly alongside the likes of John Digweed, Sasha, and Carl Cox. He also helped to found the Hungarian imprint, Cre8tion Records.

One of his final sets was recorded in October 2025, a 30-minute warm-up performance ahead of a B2B show from John Digweed and Sasha, also marking 30 years since Ronson began DJing.

Ronson spoke about the performance on SoundCloud, writing: “This night will stay with me forever. [It] was more than just a gig, it marked the 30th year of my journey behind the decks.”

“Massive thanks to Sasha & John Digweed for accepting my invitation, true legends who’ve inspired me for three decades. Huge respect to the amazing crowd who came together, followed my path, joined the events, and listened throughout the years.”

In a tribute, John Digweed took to Instagram yesterday, calling Ronson “a lovely person who will be missed by so many.”

“Our last party together was in October. It was so incredible to see the love and the appreciation the crowd had for him,” he wrote. “Showing gratitude for years of giving them so many musical memories.”

Read some more tributes below, and listen to Ronson's warm-up set from October.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on X