Andrew Fletcher, keyboardist and founding member of British digital band Depeche Mode, has died aged 60. An announcement issued by the band on social media stated “We are shocked and filled with overwhelming sadness with the untimely passing of our dear friend, family member, and bandmate Andy ‘Fletch’ Fletcher.”
Formed in Basildon within the late Nineteen Seventies, the band has had 14 prime ten studio albums within the UK, and worldwide chart success with songs together with Enjoy The Silence, Personal Jesus and Just Can’t Get Enough.
The band went on to say of their assertion “Fletch had a true heart of gold and was always there when you needed support, a lively conversation, a good laugh, or a cold pint. Our heart are with his family, and we ask that you keep them in your thoughts and respect their privacy in this difficult time.”
Known principally throughout his profession by his nickname “Fletch”, Fletcher was born in 1961 in Nottingham, and moved to Basildon the place within the late Nineteen Seventies he fashioned the band Composition Of Sound alongside Martin Gore and Vince Clarke. With the recruitment of singer Dave Gahan they modified their identify to Depeche Mode, and the quartet went on to get pleasure from a spree of early eighties chart hits.
With the departure of Clarke, who went on to type Yazoo after which Erasure, Gore went on to grow to be chief songwriter, and with the addition of Alan Wilder the band’s sound took a darker extra gothic flip and went on to get pleasure from large worldwide success within the late 80s and early 90s.
Fletcher appeared on all of Depeche Mode’s 14 studio albums thus far, together with Songs Of Faith And Devotion in 1993 and Ultra in 1997 which each reached No 1 within the album chart within the UK.
The band have been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2020.
One of the primary artist to pay tribute was Lol Tolhurst, founding member of the Cure, who stated “I knew Andy and considered him a friend. We crossed many of the same pathways as younger men . My heart goes out to his family, bandmates, and DM fans.”
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