Depeche Mode keyboard player Andrew Fletcher dies aged 60

27 May 2022 - 08:52
By Paul Sandle
Martin Gore, Dave Gahan and Andrew Fletcher of  Depeche Mode before a press conference to announce the dates for their 2013/2014 world tour in Paris, France. File photo.
Image: Benoit Tessier/Reuters Martin Gore, Dave Gahan and Andrew Fletcher of Depeche Mode before a press conference to announce the dates for their 2013/2014 world tour in Paris, France. File photo.

Andrew Fletcher, the keyboard player and founder member of British electronic pioneers Depeche Mode, has died, the group said on Thursday. He was 60.

“We are shocked and filled with overwhelming sadness with the untimely passing of our dear friend, family member, and bandmate Andy ‘Fletch’ Fletcher,” the group said on Twitter.

Depeche Mode were formed in Basildon, eastern England, in 1980 with the line up of Fletcher, Vince Clarke, Martin Gore and David Gahan. Their debut 1981 album Speak & Spell put them at the centre of the British new wave scene.

After Alan Wilder replaced Clarke in 1982, the band went on to find international success with the albums Violator in 1990 and Songs of Faith and Devotion in 1993.

Reuters