The Prodigy’s Keith Flint Dead At Age 49

The Prodigy frontman Keith Flint has died, at the age of 49.

The band has shared this statement:

“It is with deepest shock and sadness 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. We thank you for respecting the privacy of all concerned at this time.”

In an Instagram post, The Prodigy co-founder Liam Howlett shared that Flint’s cause of death was suicide:

“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 , fuckin angry , confused and heart broken ….. r.i.p brother Liam”

The Prodigy formed in 1990. Flint was originally the band’s dancer, but was the featured vocalist on the 1996 hit, Firestarter, which went on to become an international hit:

42 thoughts on “The Prodigy’s Keith Flint Dead At Age 49”

  1. A life of glorifying the world darkness. What else would one expect? Extremely sad that people choose to enter that world. For some its just schtick, but obviously this guy “walked the walk”. There is so much to live for.

    2. From someone who knew him:

      “Devastated keith flint is gone. not just a great performer. he had total integrity & an incredible sense of humour. one of the sweetest people I’ve ever worked with. what a beautiful energy. what a gentleman. privileged to have known him. miss u keith.”

      This account runs counter to your uninformed “what else would you expect” remark.

      1. Committing suicide at 49 and the content of his music/videos is what motivated my comment. Its not normal to off yourself at 49. I’m not judging him personally as I never knew him, not at all, but I feel sad that he lived in such darkness. I am sorry if I offended anyone who actually knew him, but apparently things weren’t so wonderful.

        1. Don’t appologize for speaking the truth. He didn’t kill himself for having too many loved ones around him. The void always stares back.

          1. How do you know this is the truth?

            You do understand that bands don’t create their own videos? Other people can come up with ideas. How about the lyrics?

            From Liam….

            “Politics? It’s never political for us. We just write music for people to go ‘yeah!’ to. “To be honest with you… I’ve never been angry about anything in my f***ing life.”

            Have a look beyond the stage persona, for example his motorcycle racing team.

          2. Please allow smidi to apologize for absolute rubbish. And be so kind to join him. An opinion is a result of thought, not a replacement for it.

        2. Yes, because how people behave in music videos is how they truly are… I think you need a serious reality check. People are not as one-dimensional as you portray them. There are many depressed people (you make it sound like a choice) that live to a high age and die a natural death. So what was to expect? Anything really. Only Keith (and perhaps his closest friends) knew what lead to this. Making assumptions about it is indeed very judgmental.

          Thanks Keith! Not my type of music, but good you were around.

        3. What a ridiculous and offensive comment. You have absolutely no idea what he was going through. I’ve met other artists he’s worked with and they all mention the exact opposite of what you’re talking about. Just because you’re ignorant about someone’s character, it doesn’t mean you have to be disrespectful.

    4. darkness? you are obviously unfamiliar with The Prodigy’s work. why does there always have to be someone gloating over a person’s death.

    8. “A life of glorifying the world darkness.” << you're projecting flappy. So it looks like you contain a lot of darkness which you then look to project onto creative people you've taken a dislike to.

      So tell me again where that darkness lies…

    9. I’ve seen plenty of interviews with him over the years. He always seemed a pretty legit guy who cared about other people and the scene. He had a style and persona as an artist, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone who knew him hating on him.

      In short: I think you’re wrong and projecting judgement on someone you don’t know. Everyone has their demons.

      I think we lost a great artist, someone who beat the path, and a good human being. RIP Keith Flint, thank you for your music.

  2. Artists do things that are unexplainable. No telling what was going on in his heart, but part of allure of dark expressionists is that they show the parts of the world that otherwise people would cover up. Anyway when I say videos with him in it as an 18-19 yr old dude, I remember I was giging and doing live shows and most people don’t electronic stuff just stood there and fiddled while the people on the floor bumped around, but Keith always showed so much energy on stage and in videos I wanted to be like that! So I would move my body allot, dance and take my shirt off while playing it dj’ing and just let my energy out, and honestly I think it got the crowd going and was more entertaining to the club goers/ party people. I admired his high dance energy.

  3. Be careful where you aim . . .

    . . . he hit his target.

    “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. The moment I start s***ting the bed is when you’ll see me on the front of a bus.”

    Aim to live.

  4. I find it too easy to stick to commenting on the positives I got from Keith and his time in the Prodigy.

    If you ever saw them live it makes sense, if you ever heard their tunes in a club it makes sense.

    As I sometime music snob, I was more than happy to love their music. They really cut across many barriers.

    I never met Keith but EVERYONE I know who has told me he was sound and a lot of fun (having a brain and a sense of humour).

    Any early death is a tragedy. For someone who is well known in the circles I am typing in, his terrible death will be felt particularly strongly.

    Thank you Keith for your amazing music.

  5. Though their later material was, perhaps, a little gratuitous and simplistic, you cannot deny the Prodigy’s role in UK music counterculture, especially the rave-scene 90’s.

    Keith was certainly an energetic showman, fronting a group not technically requiring a frontman, but one that successfully merged powerful dance with a punk ethos. He stepped up with aplomb! (From interviews I’ve seen he seemed like a nice guy,too).

    Whether Keith, or any of the prodigy’s members, were aware of Firestarter’s subliminal lyrics, many aren’t and never will be, it was a powerful, demonic piece that gave UK music a bonafide classic in the annuls of the ‘true’ rock-n-roll ethos.( Personally, I still prefer Charley:)

    RIP Keith, watch out for those alligators… not to mention anything else with scales!

  7. smidi, what a ill-informed thing to say, clearly your comment has come from a complete lack of awareness of mental health issues that sadly too many people deal with. The reasons that people take their own life are many and varied ranging from chemistry and brains being wired in particular ways right through to more environment, social, family and abuse issues that you can wave a stick at. It’s also worth noting that significantly more people take their own lives than die as a result of road trauma, in my country by a factor of 3 to 4. It’s the same elsewhere, we don’t seem to want to talk about it. Throw in a disturbing lack of awareness and support for voluntary euthanasia (dying with dignity), again as a result of a whole bunch of reasons you are clearly not aware of. The Prodigy played a gig in my home town only six weeks ago, I deeply regret not seeing it. RIP Mr Flint, you will be missed.

    1. Admin: Personal attack deleted. Keep comments on topic and constructive.

      Comments that clearly attack individuals, or groups of people, are considered personal attacks and deleted.

      Comments critical of things – ideas, other comments, gear, etc – are welcome if they contribute constructively to the discussion on the site.

  8. Smidi implies that Keiths persona represents some alliance with the dark world and this led to his suicide. I made the parallel that an actor portrays a role. It does not represent who they are in real life. This comment was removed by admin as a personal attack on smidi.

    1. Yup… I sarcastically agreed with him. Said I worry that my agreement with Smidi’s point of view was why Robin Williams killed himself cuz he played in a movie about suicide.. not even a “personal attack” strike , the comment was just gone.

      1. But, maybe they had a glitch and my post got eaten. I’d like to think it wasn’t about some kind of censorship. I mean, you can’t say it was a personal attack since literally claimed the same stance as Smidi but in a sarcastic way. And you can’t say it was off topic as I followed smidi’s logic which is still posted… so I’d assume a glitch 😉

  9. Goodbye dear Keith, you’ll be missed. The music and your incredible energy inspired me to start buying synths and making music.

  10. A life of glorifying the world darkness. What else would one expect? Extremely sad that people choose to enter that world.
    Is this not an ugly thing to say immediately following a tragic suicide? Is this a comment from an evangelical addressing a crowd on the evils of the devils music?
    Admins have an odd idea of what constitutes a personal attack. If this isn’t a personal attack on Keith Flint, what is?

    1. You can’t make a personal attack on other posters. That’s the rule.

      People attack artists, gear, and companies all the time here. For better or worse, deleting those comments would dump 90% of them.

  11. I got into the Prodigy in 1990, with the first album and all the 12inches released. I was a fan up to Fire Starter. It is sorry news to hear Keith passing. Looking at the 1996 release now, yeah, they had that Punk Ehtos with the “Rave / Jungle” stuff. Honestly, their later stuff didn’t do it for me. But, they were pioneers back then.

  13. I saw The Prodigy the first time 1993 after Experience. They were a bit smaller band back then, not yet megastar class artitst. At the end of the gig they asked everyone who would fit to come to the stage to dance with them and there we went.

    Loved Experience and Jilted, and they totally converted me to electronic music from rock and grunge. Didn’t like their later production too much, though, and always felt that electro-punk thing unnecessary.

    But, my childhood heroes, definitely. A sad day, indeed.

  14. First of all, let’s remark on the idea of #FuneralTrolls – that is funny.
    More importantly, however, ART does not always equate to life.
    Some of the most POP and HAPPY art comes from very very dark individuals.
    Would you suspect Taylor Swift be dark? She may very well be an even darker person.

    Often times, the folks who portray the darkness in their expressive art are the ones who actually get it out of their systems…. sometimes it is not even about that at all.

    Janet Jackson is a full on Metal head… most people forget this as he many sightings and shows in and out of LA were only documented in a few printed zines and gossip tabloids. This was pre-internet and lots of that classic garbage is now gone…. fortunately or not…. anyhow…. What about Garth Brooks, another total dark rock and metal lover…. he wound up learning he could have a successful career as a country singer and did that instead. Though he did do the Chris Gaines thang for a while. 😉

    Anyhow…. I have had my own battles from depression and it sometimes is NOT about life situations directly but of pain within the body. Chemical Imbalance, Incorrectly firing messages, dietary sparking moods…. it can be a number of things. While it is commonly viewed that suicide is a selfish act. NONE OF US know exactly what the other can feel at times.

    49 is very young in today’s standard of life. I feel for his family, including the band and mates and any fan of Liam Howe’s work which brought Keith Flint and the others together.

    We briefly met while touring in the old rave days. He was just one of the dancers at that time as Maxim was sort of the MC.

    I have not discussed this on any other social media platform as I am not often a fan of that and I have had lots of death occur in my world in the last year. I did need to say something as I found the comment to be cold and quite insensitve. I know it may not have been thought out prior to typing but it certainly sparked much conversation.

    I am thankful we have this place to share ideas.

  15. I don’t know what was the cause of his death, but I don’t judge people for dying. Killing yourself is as legit as getting run over by a car or dying at old age in a diapher. It’s always a waste, but without death there would be no evolution and we wouldn’t even exist. In the end we all die one way or the other. “Der Weg ist das Ziel!” I liked many of the Prodigy stuff, but I only came to know it very late, when it wasn’t IN anymore. Good stuff!

  16. The Prodigy helped my introverted childhood have more depth to it. Probably what got me to love electronic music at a great degree too!

  17. God, what is going on with you guys. The only thing you can say for sure when commenting on someone committing suicide is that the person must have experienced the situation he/was in in such a sad / horrible whatever way that is was too much to keep on living. The only statement anyone should make is that this is extremely sad. It doesn’t matter if famous, drug problems or anything else. For me hearing or reading about someone doing this just makes me sad and feel really sorry for someone to experience life in such a way. I don’t want to be rude but every other comment seems heartless and stupid to me. Being happy or satisfied with your life is awesome unfortunately most people just realize when things go bad.

  18. I was born & bred in Braintree. In the late 80s/early 90s wevd all pile into cars and convoy to a rave. All into the music, the excitement, the happy environment that the rave scene was then. All dancing together, Keith, Liam, & Leeroy included, then the dissappear for a while, do their ‘gig’ and be back with the big happy Braintree family. Keef was a funny, kind, gentle young man. The biggest smile beneath those long blond locks.
    Most of the world, followers of the band, only knew(if KNEW is the right word) keefs ‘alter-ego, the act, the performer’ that was the firestarter. That was his job and he played it well, beneath the image and make-up was the happy funny, hippy with long blond hair and the biggest smile.
    Do some research and see that beautiful human being that had flaws, like all of us. That struggled with mental health issues, like so many of us. That could be surrounded by friends and colleagues, then find himself alone. I’ve experienced feeling so alone when in a crowded room and it is a scarey place to be.
    I will always miss that lad I’d sit and share a bag of chips with, in Braintree town centre, during my lunch break from work in those early days.
    X

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