GENTLE SIDE OF WILDMAN FIRESTARTER

Happy and relaxed...Prodigy legend Keith

KEITH Flint smiles broadly as he poses in the sunshine with a young friend and a dog for a photo showing the softer side of the tragic rave hellraiser.

The picture of the Prodigy star was tweeted by TV cook Rosemary Shrager, 68, after his suspected suicide at the age of 49.

She said: “Very sad to hear of the death of Keith Flint. I only saw him last week. My thoughts and prays go out to his family. A true legend and an icon.”

Keith was found dead at his Essex home on Monday. A bunch of purple flowers yesterday lay by the gate to the £1.9million Grade II-listed house.

Prodigy co-manager

John Fairs said he and the band members, Liam Howlett and Maxim, were “devas- tated” by Keith’s death. Fairs said: “An immense waste of such an intelligent, charismatic talent whose shoes no one could ever fill, and moreover the loss of a dear friend.”

Singer James Blunt, 45, also paid an emotional tribute. He said: “At the Q Awards years ago, when @ NoelGallagher was saying he was leaving Ibiza because I’d moved there and @DamonAlbarn refused

to be in the same picture as me... Keith Flint came over, gave me a hug. Keith, I only met you once, but I shed a tear at the news of your death. In our business, there are no prizes for being kind, but if there was, that Grammy would be yours.” We told yesterday how Keith took part in the 5k Chelmsford Central parkrun on Saturday, posting a personal best time of 21.22. Organisers offered their condolences to his family and said: “We wished he could have been part of our parkrun community for longer than he was.” Flint was a 1990s rave scene icon, known for his green spiky hair, facial piercings and manic performances. The Prodigy had hits with Firestarter and Breathe. In November they released the No Tourists album, their seventh No1.