Pop Idol star Darius Campbell cause of death ruled an accident

The 41-year-old singer died from an "inhalation of chloroethane", the Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner's Office in the United States has confirmed.

Autopsy documents obtained by the PA news agency listed “toxic effects of chloroethane” as well as “suffocation” as having contributed to his death.

The family of the Scottish singer and actor said in a statement he was “found unresponsive in bed in his apartment room in Rochester, Minnesota, on August 11 and was pronounced dead in the afternoon by the local medical examiners’ office”.

Known as Darius Danesh, he made his first bid for fame in ITV show Popstars in 2001 and also appeared on the first Pop Idol, which was won by Will Young.

After Pop Idol, Campbell Danesh turned down Simon Cowell’s offer of a record deal and signed with producer Steve Lillywhite, whose credits include U2 and the Rolling Stones.

Fellow Pop Idol contestants Will Young and Gareth Gates paid tribute to the singer after his death was announced, describing him as “driven, courageous and gentle”.

Burnley's homegrown star Andrew Derbyshire, who met the singer when they both appeared on Pop Idol, also lead tributes saying Darius was "always a gentleman and is yet another young soul gone too soon".

Campbell Danesh’s debut single, Colourblind, was released in July 2002 and went straight to number one, marking the start of a run of top 10 releases.

Following his death the song re-entered music charts and several days later took the top spot on the iTunes download chart.