Dead at 49, Prodigy star who stoked controversy and hit No1 with Firestarter
WITH his hair styled in demonic green horns, two inches of steel through his nose and a stud in his tongue, he clearly intended to appeal to rebellious teenagers while horrifying their parents.
But like many outrageous pop stars before him, The Prodigy lead singer Keith Flint, who was found dead at his home yesterday aged 49, eventually became part of the mainstream.
Controversial songs such as Firestarter and Smack My B**** Up sparked public outrage but won the band millions of fans. Flint’s much-parodied performance on the 1996 video for Firestarter – scowling and yelling ‘I’m a firestarter, twisted firestarter’ – is said to have attracted the most viewer complaints in the history of Top Of The Pops.
Yet their mix of punk and electronic rave music endured and the band had been due to appear at this year’s Glastonbury festival, which they had headlined in 1997. Their album No Tour- ists topped the charts in November. They had recently returned from a tour of Australia and were due to appear in North and South America before making appearances at several of Europe’s summer festivals.
Flint was found dead at his £1.6million Tudor mansion near Felsted, Essex, shortly after 8am by police who had been alerted following concerns about the singer’s welfare.
The Prodigy’s founder Liam Howlett wrote on the band’s Instagram page: ‘ The news is true, I can’t believe I’m saying this but our brother Keith took his own life over the weekend.
The band said in a statement: ‘It is with deepest shock that we can confirm the death of our brother and best friend Keith Flint.
‘A true pioneer, innovator and legend. He will be forever missed.’
Tributes from the music and showbusiness world included a tweet from Radio 2 presenter Jo Whiley. ‘This is sad news,’ she said. ‘Whenever our paths crossed he was an absolute sweetheart. Incredible iconic frontman with a soft centre.’
Actress Kathy Burke tweeted: ‘He did what all music stars are meant to do; he frightened mums and dads. RIP Keith Flint.’ Radio 1 presenter Nick Grimshaw wrote on Instagram: ‘Such a big part of my formative teenage years, posters on my wall, learning the lyrics on the bus home from school and torturing my parents with Fat Of The Land. They don’t make ’em like that any more.’
Friends had feared Flint would not reach his 40th birthday because of his drug use – he admitted using cannabis, cocaine and ‘a lot’ of alcohol before becoming addicted to prescription drugs.
He admitted feeling suicidal at that time but insisted he could never have gone through with it, explaining: ‘I was a coward.’
In an interview in 2015, Flint said: ‘I’m not saving up for anything. I’m cashing it all now. I’ve always had this thing inside me that, when I’m done, I’ll kill myself. I swear to God that’s not suicidal – it’s definitely a positive thing.’
Flint was born on September 17, 1969, in Redbridge, East London.
Pictures from his childhood show him sitting angelically with a neat side-parting for a school photo and smiling in a sun hat as he set off of a hike. But he said he had an unhappy childhood and hated being at home. He said he had ‘a dysfunctional side’, despite having a high IQ.
After leaving school, he moved to Braintree, Essex, and met Howlett in a nightclub. Flint was originally The Prodigy’s dancer but the band’s fortunes were transformed with him as vocalist and they would go on to sell 30million records.
He briefly dated TV presenter Gail Porter – as a couple they were dubbed ‘Beauty and the Beast’ but they split in 2000.
In 2006 he married Japanese DJ Mayumi Kai. Flint credited her with saving him from drugs but they had separated and she was working in Japan when he died.
The singer had reinvented himself as a country gentleman. Neighbours said he was nothing like his wild onstage persona but a well- spoken fitness fanatic who was often seen out riding, running or cycling and was teetotal.
One said: ‘He was lovely, always very friendly and polite. He liked to ride and loved his dogs. The image you might think of him with rings in his nose was wrong. He was really nice.’
Flint bought and renovated a pub, The Leather Bottle, in the nearby village of Pleshey.
Customers were ordered to pay a £1 fine if they made a quip about Firestarter when he lit the pub’s fire. He quit the tenancy in 2017.
He was also involved with motorcycle racing as owner and manager of Team Traction Control, which won three Isle of Man TT races in 2015.
Essex Police said last night that Flint had been alone at his house, which was set behind high walls in ten acres of land, adding: ‘The death is not being treated as suspicious.’
‘He frightened mums and dads’