Prodigy Singer Keith Flint Dead of Apparent Suicide at 49: 'A True Pioneer, Innovator and Legend'

Keith Flint, one of the vocalists for the English electronic music group The Prodigy, was found dead of an apparent suicide in his home in Essex on Monday, the band confirmed. He was 49.

“It is with deepest shock and sadness that we can confirm the death of our brother and best friend Keith Flint,” the group wrote on Twitter. “A true pioneer, innovator and legend. He will be forever missed. We thank you for respecting the privacy of all concerned at this time.”

An Instagram post from the group seemed to confirm Flint’s death was a suicide. “The news is true, I can’t believe I’m saying this but our brother Keith took his own life over the weekend,” bandmate Liam Howlett captioned the photo. “I’m shell shocked, f—in angry, confused and heart broken ….. r.i.p brother.”

An Essex police spokesman confirmed Flint’s death to PEOPLE, explaining that officers discovered Flint after a welfare check was called on his behalf.

“We were called to concerns for the welfare of a man at an address in Brook Hill, North End, just after 8:10 a.m. on Monday,” the spokesperson said. “We attended and, sadly, a 49-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.”

“His next of kin have been informed,” the Essex spokesperson continued. “The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner.”

The Prodigy, alongside artists like Fatboy Slim and groups like the Chemical Brothers, were considered trailblazers of electronic music’s big beat genre — which dominated the charts in the 1990s.

Formed by Liam Howlett, the group — primarily made up of Howlett, Flint and rapper Maxim (formerly Maxim Reality) — first broke on to the rave scene at the top of the decade with their debut single “Charly,” which kicked off the trend of mixing dance tracks with sample dialogue from popular cartoons. They would then hone their sound away from what was dubbed toytown techno to their more hardcore electronica sound with their first album, Experience, which spawned five hit singles including “Everybody in the Place (Fairground Edit),” “Out of Space” and “Wind It Up (Rewound).”

Their second album, 1994’s Music for the Jilted Generation, would cement the band’s sound for good, as the LP including tracks that incorporated rock and metal influences. The effort and all six of The Prodigy‘s following albums, including 2018’s No Tourists, reached No. 1 on the U.K. charts.

Mainstream crossover came in 1996 with the release of “Firestarter.” That track put Flint on lead vocals for the first time. His bold punk aesthetic (including his spiked hair and colorful clothes) made him the perfect frontman.

“Firestarter” appeared on The Prodigy’s third album, The Fat of the Land. Released in 1997, it became the fast-selling U.K. album at the time, even entering the Guinness World Records.

Success did not come without controversy, however. Conservative groups slammed the band for its misogynistic lyrics on The Fat of the Land‘s second single, “Smack My Bitch Up” — with Wal-Mart and Kmart famously pulling the LP off their shelves.

The track’s video, directed by Jonas Åkerlund, got the band into even more hot water for its first-person view of a night out fueled by sex, drugs and alcohol. The clip ended with the camera panning over to a mirror to reveal the subject was a woman. At the time, it was considered so offensive that MTV only aired it after midnight.

Still, “Smack My Bitch Up” would snag two awards at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards: best dance video and breakthrough video. All in all, the band won three career VMAs, two Brit Awards, two Kerrang! Awards and five MTV Europe Music Awards and received two Grammy nominations.

After The Fat of the Land, the band took a brief hiatus but later returned in 2002. Their most recent album, No Tourists, was released in November. They were scheduled to tour the U.S. beginning in May 2019, on what would have been their first headline tour in 10 years.

Tributes have been pouring in for Flint from his colleagues, including the Chemical Brothers’ Ed Simons, who called him a “great man.” Skrillex paid tribute in his own post, writing, “I may not [have] had a career if it wasn’t for you Keith …you made me feel welcome in a time when I needed it. Thanks for all laughs my friend ]]>🖤