DJ Dies of Cancer Just Over a Year After Welcoming Baby Girl: Andyheartthrob Was 33

Beloved New Zealand DJ Andyheartthrob, real name Andrea Orani, has died following a battle with cancer. Her manager, Jaimee-Lee Tredray, confirmed Orani’s passing to Resident Advisor on Jan. 14. Orani had been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic bowel cancer in September 2023, just months after welcoming her daughter Ruuru.

“Andy created spaces where connection and creativity thrived. She embodied the DIY ethos: start something, build a village of like-minded souls, and uplift everyone along the way,” Tredray shared in a statement. “The ultimate hype queen, Andy made sure everyone around her believed in themselves and followed their dreams.”

Known to those close to her as a “ray of sunshine” in the country’s underground scene, Orani performed under the alias Andyheartthrob throughout New Zealand. She was well-known for her work with After Ours Studio, and for founding the collectives DJs Anonymous and Dynasty, through which she introduced Jersey club pioneer UNiiQU3 to Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) for her New Zealand debut in 2022.

Amid her rising career, and after welcoming her daughter in April 2023, Orani announced in 2023 that she’d been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic bowel cancer. Ornai’s diagnosis was announced in a fundraiser created to help fund her cancer treatment and support her daughter, who at the time was 5 months. At the time of her diagnosis, the fundraiser said the cancer had “spread to her liver, lymph nodes and lungs” and her doctor said that “due to the cancer’s aggressive nature she might not survive more than two weeks.”

“This news is shocking for me and everyone I love. I want you all to know that I’m keeping positive and a good way to help is by sending your positive energy and love,” Orani said in an Instagram video at the time. “I’ve decided to document my healing journey via Instagram (@andyheartthrob), so everyone can be on it with me, so I’m not alone. I have many reasons to live for especially my baby daughter. Ruuru. The journey will be demanding with serious challenges for everyone, but we will succeed together. You might suggest a book, a healthy recipe, therapy, a verse or a story, everything will help.”

Orani began “urgent chemotherapy,” and was raising funds for a year of immunotherapy and alternative cancer therapies. In the most recent update to the funraiser in October 2023, it was revealed that Orani did “not qualify for Cetuximab (Erbitux) but does qualify for Bevacizumab (Avastin)” and would undergo “another CT scan which will determine her next course of action.”

Throughout her cancer treatment, Orani continued to perform. She gave one of her final performances in May 2024 she she performed a Boiler Room set in Rarotonga, part of the Cook Islands, alongside local favourites like Gat and Giddy.

An outpouring of tributes were shared for Ornai following her passing, with the Pulotu Underworld account writing that Orani’s “legacy will live on forever. Rest in paradise beautiful. We love you.” Katana remembered the DJ as “one of a kind. We shared the same vision. It really sucks that you’re gone. I’ll make sure your legacy and love live on forever in our community. I’ll miss you.”

The DJ is survived by her daughter, Ruuru, her parents, and two sisters, as well as countless friends and collaborators.