published26. May 2022, 22:02
As the members of the electronic band Depeche Mode announced on social media on Thursday evening, keyboardist Andy Fletcher is dead. He has been with the band since the band was founded 45 years ago.
Fletcher at a concert in 2017.
Imago
Here the band is playing at the Waldbühne in Berlin in 2018.
Imago
“We are shocked and filled with overwhelming sadness at the untimely death of our dear friend, family member and bandmate Andy ‘Fletch’ Fletcher,” said a statement by Depeche Mode, which was published on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on Thursday evening. “Fletch had a heart of gold and was always there when you needed help, a lively conversation, a good laugh or a cold beer. Our hearts are with his family and we ask that you think of them and respect their privacy at this difficult time.”
Fletcher died of natural causes at his home in the UK on Thursday, a source close to the band said. The musician was 60 years old.
Andrew Fletcher, born July 8, 1961 in Nottingham, was one of the two founding members of the first version of Depeche Mode in 1977, before frontman Dave Gahan and songwriter Martin Gore. He always stayed with the band, also as co-founder Vince Clarke or keyboard player Alan Wilder went again.
Chess player and Chelsea fan
Fletcher was a talented musician, but not a showman. He took on more organizational than creative tasks in the band. Without him, Depeche Mode, a pioneering electropop band, would no longer exist. In times of crisis, Fletch was the bridge builder between Gahan and Gore. Although Fletcher never wrote a song himself, he took on important tasks in the studio.
“Martin is the songwriter, Alan is the good musician, Dave the vocalist, and I just hang around,” said Andy “Fletch” Fletcher once laconically in a documentary about his status in the band.
In 2002, Fletcher founded his own label called Toast Hawaii, but it was never particularly successful. He also performed regularly as a DJ. The passionate chess player and FC Chelsea fan also owned a restaurant in the 1990s.
Fletcher is survived by his wife Gráinne, whom he married in 1993, and two daughters.
(DPA/trx/chk)