The Prodigy icon Keith Flint dead at 49

LONDON: Keith Flint, the frenetic frontman of British rave icons The Prodigy, has died at the age of 49, the electronic pop group said Monday.

Flint took his own life, his bandmate Liam Howlett said on The Prodigy’s official Instagram account.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but our brother Keith took his own life over the weekend,” Howlett wrote.

Police said only that they were not treating the death as suspicious after finding Flint’s body on Monday in a residence in Essex, northeast of London.

Howlett said he was “shell shocked... angry, confused and heartbroken”.

Heavily pierced, tattooed and topped with a bleached mohawk, Flint helped turn The Prodigy into one of the most influential acts to emerge from the underground rave scene.

Their biggest hits included “Firestarter” and “Breathe” in 1996 and “Smack My Bitch Up” in 1997, which merged intense dance beats with elements of rap and punk to create energy-driven music that turned them into international stars.

Their accompanying videos were dark, cinematic and seemingly aimed to shock.

One was banned by MTV in the United States. Another was only allowed to air on British television after 9:00 pm because of complaints that it scared children.

The Prodigy issued a statement on Twitter calling Flint a “true pioneer, innovator and legend”.

“It is with deepest shock and sadness that we can confirm the death of our brother and best friend Keith Flint,” the group said.

Essex Police told AFP that a 49-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene and that “his next of kin have been informed”.

“The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner.”

The Prodigy formed in 1990 and released two albums before becoming international stars with their 1996 chart-topper “The Fat of the Land”. — AFP