DJ Cassidy

Cassidy Durango Milton Willy Podell (born 1981), better known as DJ Cassidy, is a New York DJ. Cassidy is known for his work at celebrity functions, including the 50th birthday party and 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama, and the 2008 wedding of Beyoncé and Jay-Z. Born in New York's Upper East Side, Cassidy is the son of Jonny Podell, the music agent. Interested in deejaying from an early age, Cassidy asked his parents for two turntables and a mixer for his tenth birthday, and began working at teenage parties, school carnivals, talent shows, and in his senior year at high school at nightclubs. In 1999 he began his undergraduate studies at George Washington University, then transferred to New York University, graduating in sociology in 2003. Cassidy was discovered by Sean "Diddy" Combs while working the 10–4 night shift in the basement of Lotus, a club in Manhattan. Combs wrote his phone number on a napkin and asked Cassidy to call him, which led to invitations to work at Grammy parties and the MTV Video Music Awards. As of 2011, according to Forbes, Cassidy was performing 200 gigs a year, sometimes earning $100,000 a night.