{"id":6911,"date":"2026-06-26T02:40:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T02:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/original-dancing-with-the-stars-musical-director-dead-at-82\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T02:40:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T02:40:53","slug":"original-dancing-with-the-stars-musical-director-dead-at-82","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/original-dancing-with-the-stars-musical-director-dead-at-82\/","title":{"rendered":"Original &#8216;Dancing With the Stars&#8217; musical director dead at 82"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F3%2F2026%2F06%2F132290578.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The \u201cDancing With the Stars\u201d family is mourning one of their own.<\/p>\n<p>Harold Wheeler, the ABC reality competition series\u2019 longtime musical director, <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/celebrity-news\/celebrity-deaths-2026-actors-singers-and-stars-we-lost-this-year\/\">has died<\/a>. He was 82.<\/p>\n<p>Wheeler, who was also a famed Broadway orchestrator and received a Special Tony Award in 2019 for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles following a lengthy illness, <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2026\/06\/harold-wheeler-dead-1236967255\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Deadline reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The musician served as both the musical director and composer for the first 17 seasons of \u201cDWTS\u201d between 2005  and 2013, with his exit confirmed in 2014 before the show\u2019s 18th season.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Harold Wheeler, the original musical director and composer for \u201cDancing With the Stars\u201d for the show\u2019s first 17 seasons between 2005 and 2013, has died. (He\u2019s seen here on the show in Season 5.) <span class=\"credit\">Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Wheeler (seen here on Season 4 of \u201cDWTS\u201d) died following a lengthy illness at the age of 82, Deadline reports. <span class=\"credit\">Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Tom Bergeron, who hosted \u201cDWTS\u201d for the series\u2019 first 28 seasons, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DaBngIiyrly\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shared a heartfelt tribute<\/a> for Wheeler on Instagram Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn 2005, when you first heard the music of @dancingwiththestars, it was coming from Harold Wheeler and his orchestra,\u201d he began. \u201cNothing gave me greater pleasure than making him &amp; his orchestra break up during dress rehearsals. Well, that &amp; basking in the brilliance of their talent. #RIP my friend \ud83d\ude14.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wheeler\u2019s \u201cDWTS\u201d successor, Ray Chew, reacted to Bergeron\u2019s post in the comments, calling it \u201cone of the greatest honors\u201d of his career to have Wheeler pass the baton to him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarold could not have been more gracious, offering me his blessing and encouragement as I stepped into the role he had shaped with such distinction,\u201d Chew wrote. \u201cThat meant more to me than words can express.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Wheeler (seen here again on Season 4 of \u201cDWTS\u201d) was remembered via social media tributes from original \u201cDWTS\u201d host Tom Bergeron, pro-turned-judge Derek Hough and his own successor, Ray Chew. <span class=\"credit\">Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Outside of \u201cDWTS,\u201d Wheeler was a famed Broadway orchestrator. He\u2019s seen here accepting a Special Tony Award in 2019 for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Chew also shouted out Wheeler\u2019s \u201cimmeasurable\u201d impact on the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n<p>Derek Hough, a six-time Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy champ who is now a \u201cDWTS\u201d judge, also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DaBymNODkFx\/?hl=en&amp;img_index=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">honored Wheeler on Instagram<\/a> as someone who \u201chelped build so much of the magic we all know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom the Oscars to countless iconic shows, he was a legend. I\u2019ll always remember sending him ideas in my early seasons and that fun moment when [his Season 15 celebrity partner] Shawn [Johnson] and I tumbled right into his band pit,\u201d he wrote, also sharing a clip of the moment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarold, thank you for the music, the kindness, and the memories,\u201d Hough continued. \u201cRest in peace, my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition to his lengthy stint on \u201cDWTS,\u201d Wheeler had numerous stage and screen credits, including him serving as musical director and orchestrator for award shows like the Oscars and Emmys and several Broadway-to-TV musicals.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Wheeler (seen here with wife Hattie Winston in 2019) had numerous stage and screen credits, ranging from award shows like the Oscars and Emmys to Broadway-to-TV musical adaptations. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Wheeler (seen here with Winston in 2020) also worked with top music artists like Burt Bacharach, Nina Simone and Bruce Springsteen as well as conducted the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1996 Summer Olympics. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He was also the conductor for the 1996 Summer Olympics opening and closing ceremonies and worked with musicians like Burt Bacharach, Nina Simone and Bruce Springsteen.<\/p>\n<p>Wheeler is survived by his wife, Hattie Winston; his two daughters, Marian and Samantha; and his grandchildren.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cDWTS\u201d family previously suffered a huge loss when Len Goodman, who served as a judge for the vast majority of the show\u2019s first 31 seasons, <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2023\/04\/24\/dancing-with-the-stars-judge-len-goodman-dead-at-78\/\">died in 2023<\/a> after <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2023\/10\/01\/dwts-judge-len-goodmans-cause-of-death-revealed\/\">prostate cancer spread to his bones<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He died while surrounded by his family in hospice in Kent, UK. He was 78.<\/p>\n<p>Goodman\u2019s agent, Jackie Gill, confirmed his death in a statement at the time, sharing that he was \u201ca much-loved husband, father and grandfather who will be sorely missed by family, friends and all those who knew him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/06\/25\/entertainment\/original-dancing-with-the-stars-musical-director-dead-at-82\/\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The \u201cDancing With the Stars\u201d family is mourning one of their own. Harold Wheeler, the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/132290578.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}