Keith Flint, lead singer of influential British dance-electronic band The Prodigy, was found dead Monday at his home near London, the band said. He was 49.
Prodigy co-founder Liam Howlett said in an Instagram post that Flint killed himself over the weekend.
鈥淚鈥檓 shell shocked 鈥� confused and heart broken,鈥� he wrote.
Police confirmed that the body of a 49-year-old man had been found at a home in Brook Hill, northeast of London. They said the death was being treated as non-suspicious and a file would be sent to the coroner 鈥� standard practice in cases of violent or unexplained deaths.
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Flint was the stage persona of the band, whose 1990s hits 鈥淔irestarter鈥� and 鈥淏reathe鈥� were an incendiary fusion of techno, breakbeat and acid house music.
The Prodigy sold 30 million records, helping to take rave music from an insular community of party-goers to an international audience. They had seven No. 1 albums in Britain, most recently with 鈥淣o Tourists鈥� in 2018.
Flint was renowned for his manic stage energy and distinctive look: black eyeliner and hair spiked into two horns.
鈥淎 true pioneer, innovator and legend,鈥� the band said in a statement confirming his death. 鈥淗e will be forever missed.鈥�
Born Keith Charles Flint on Sept. 17, 1969 in east London, he moved to east of the city to Braintree, Essex as a child, where he met Howlett at a nightclub.
Formed in the early 1990s, The Prodigy was known as much for its overt anti-establishment stance as for its music. The band members were vocal critics of the U.K.鈥檚 Criminal Justice And Public Order Act 1994, which banned the raves popularized in the late-1980s during the so-called Second Summer of Love.
Electronic duo the Chemical Brothers tweeted that Flint 鈥渁s an amazing front man, a true original and he will be missed.鈥�
Grime musician Dizzee Rascal said he had opened for The Prodigy in 2009, 鈥渁nd he was one of the nicest people I鈥檝e met and always was every time I met him, the whole band were. When it comes to stage few people can carry a show like him I鈥檓 proud to say I鈥檝e seen it for myself.鈥�
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Jill Lawless contributed to this report.
Danica Kirka, The Associated Press
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