DEPECHE MODE Founder & Keyboard Player ANDY FLETCHER DEAD AT 60.
Depeche Mode founding member and keyboard player, Andy Fletcher, has died at the age of 60.
The group announced Thursday, “We are shocked and filled with overwhelming sadness with the untimely passing of our dear friend, family member, and bandmate Andy “Fletch” Fletcher.”
The statement continues, “Fletch had a true heart of gold and was always there when you needed support, a lively conversation, a good laugh, or a cold pint. Our hearts are with his family, and we ask that you keep them in your thoughts.”
Fletcher, Vince Clarke, Martin Gore and Dave Gahan officially launched Depeche Mode in 1980 … though Clarke left shortly after the group released its debut album.
Later on in his career, Fletcher worked as a DJ, and actually went on tour around Europe in 2015.
Fletcher and Depeche Mode were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.
Andy “Fletch” Fletcher, the co-founder and keyboardist of beloved synth-pop and New Wave stalwarts Depeche Mode, died at the age of 60.
Fletcher’s bandmates announced his death Thursday on social media; Rolling Stone has confirmed that the cause of death was natural causes. “We are shocked and filled with overwhelming sadness with the untimely passing of our dear friend, family member and bandmate Andy ‘Fletch’ Fletcher,” the band said in a statement.
“Fletch had a true heart of gold and was always there when you needed support, a lively conversation, a good laugh or a cold pint.”
— Depeche Mode (@depechemode) May 26, 2022
Fletcher was a member of Depeche Mode for over 40 years, from their official formation in 1980 and their 1981 debut album Speak and Spell up through their most recent LP, 2017’s Spirit.
In 2020, Fletcher and his Depeche Mode bandmates — longtime members Dave Gahan and Martin Gore and former members Vince Clarke and Alan Wilder — were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.