“We are shocked and filled with great sadness at the untimely death of our dear friend, family member and colleague Andy ‘Fletch’ Fletcher,” the band said on Twitter.
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“’Fletch’ had a real golden heart and was there whenever you needed support, lively conversation, good fun or a cold beer. We ask you to think about his family and respect their privacy at this difficult time, “says Depeche Mode.
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Fletcher was born in Nottingham in 1961 and moved to Basildon, where he co-founded Composition Of Sound with Martin Gor and Vince Clark in the late 1970s.
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After the reception of the singer David Gahan, they changed their name to Depeche Mode and the quartet became famous for hits such as New Life or Just Can’t Get Enough.
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After the departure of Clark, who founded Yazoo and then Erasure, Gore became the lead composer, and the band experienced huge international success in the late 1980s and 1990s with Personal Jesus, Enjoy The Silence and I Feel You.
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In 2020, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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They will never be complete again
In the band, which in the 80’s and early 90’s showed other artists around the world the direction in the use of electronic instruments, Fletcher held an important human element.
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“Fletch” was not directly behind the pioneering arrangements of DM as the sound visionary Alan Wilder, nor behind the strong melodies as the lead composer Martin Gore.
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On stage, however, he acted as a reliable, albeit somewhat minimalist keyboardist, but also as an enthusiastic encouragement of the audience, whose heckling gave DM concerts juice. Behind the scenes, he often played the role of a member who can put together a team in which it has often squeaked on long tours.
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Although as an instrumentalist for the band he is not irreplaceable, for fans Depeche Mode will never be complete without him.
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