More than 9,000 people visited the ET website to read about the sudden death of Jason Bennett who was found in his flat in Ledham, Orton Brimbles, Peterborough, shortly before 4pm on Tuesday.

And more than 60 people have e-mailed or posted their tributes to Jason, also known as J Denzel, who died nine years to the day after his father Rocky Bennett died after being restrained by medical staff at a mental health institution.

Jason, the father of two boys and a girl was a popular figure in music and had recently returned from Ayia Napa, in Cyprus, and also Malia, in Crete, where he worked as an MC.

Read your tributes: City people remember Jason Bennett.

He had launched his own record label, JMA Soul Records, and had released a successful album called It Is What It Is which is on sale in HMV, and a video for one of his singles is still being shown on satellite station Channel U.

Since the sudden death of the 26-year-old, friends have paid tribute to the former Walton Community School pupil who used to work as a social worker in the city.

Ahmed Mustafa (31), from Bretton, grew up nearby to the Bennett family and is still close to the family. He said: "I've known him and his brother Daniel since I was a little kid. He always loved his music. He wanted to become an artist and was just on the brink of getting a record deal. It's a big loss. He had many, many friends and fans from all over the country. It's a big shame.

"It was a great shock really. He was in hospital about a month ago with severe chest pains and we didn't think he was going to make it, but he pulled through. Now this has happened.

"What an amazing guy, he just loved his music. He had a passion for it and liked to sing about his life experiences. He had quite a troubled life.

"Everyone knew him and he was going round bootlegging his CDs to get his name out there.

"His music was brilliant. The best thing about it was that you could relate to it. He sang about people's problems, not material things. He had ambitions and was going to be very, very successful. He always had a dream."

Another close friend, who did not want to be named, said: "He was a really decent person. He did try to be the best father he could to his kids. He was really excited about his video being played on the music channel.

"He used to be a social worker helping young children who had come from a bad background."

On his MySpace page, Jason says he is known as Denzel because his father Rocky chose it to be his middle name. He had been due to have a birthday party at The Park nightclub where he has played and where his cousin "T-Rex" is a DJ, on November 16.

Owner Del Singh, who grew up with Jason's father said: "Jason was a regular at the Park nightclub and was a good kid.