Sometimes, we might get the impression that our heroes are fearless and invincible. If they’re known for standing loud and proud in front of a world that they’re not afraid to shock, it gets as easy for their supporters to believe what they’re seeing as much as their detractors do.
However, we can sometimes get a dose of reality that tells us how much more there is to the story than we realize. And in the case of Keith Flint from The Prodigy, we just received a tragic reminder that even the strongest among us can be haunted by serious demons.
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Last week, police in Essex, England responded to a requested welfare check on 49-year-old Keith Flint.
According to The Guardian , when they reached the musician’s address, they discovered his body and notified his next of kin.
They also said his death was not treated as suspicious.
Before long, his bandmates filled in some of the missing information in an Instagram post: Flint had died by suicide.
Producer Liam Howlett, whose technical skills made him the group’s namesake, wrote, “The news is true , I can’t believe I’m saying this but our brother Keith took his own life over the weekend , I’m shell shocked , f***** angry , confused and heart broken ….. r.i.p brother.”
In the week since, more details about Flint’s cause of death were released by the Essex Coroner’s Office.
As the BBC reported , their provisional statement is that Flint died by hanging, but toxicology reports are still forthcoming.
Senior coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray then closed the inquest until July 23rd, when a full hearing will take place.
Soon after Howlett formed the Prodigy in 1990, Keith Flint joined the group as a dancer.
By the time of their debut album, Experience in 1992, their output largely consisted of Howlett’s mixes and the others were mostly there to dance in the group’s videos and at their shows.
However, the group would soon evolve into a more hardcore electronic outfit with Flint and rapper Maxim as its frontmen.
Much of this transformation could be attributed to Flint’s punk aesthetic and persona as a dangerous man screaming dark lyrics with an intense stare.
Flint’s innovations proved successful and gave Howlett’s sophisticated, yet frantic grooves the boost they needed.
According to The Guardian , all of the seven albums made after this stylistic change reached number one in the U.K.
The change also brought the group its share of controversy, as their video for the single “Firestarter” would be banned by the BBC after parents complained that it frightened their children.
This wasn’t the only of Flint’s passions that would find him success, as he also founded a motorcycle racing team called Team Traction Control.
Since beginning in 2014, this team would go on to win multiple Supersport TT titles at the Isle of Man’s annual festival.
h/t: The Guardian
