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Andy Fletcher, founding member of Depeche Mode, dead at 60

Andy Fletcher, a member of Depeche Mode since the very beginning has died. He was 60.

We have no idea what happened. All we have is a statement from the band.

Fletch was there at the very beginning in Basildon in 1980 along with Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, and Vince Clarke. He weathered some crazy years with the band, including the crucial 1991-1994 period on the 14-month Devotional Tour where there was so many booze- and drug-fueled parties that everyone almost died (Dave did, technically, for a couple of minutes from a speedball overdose at the Sunset Marquis hotel.)

Fletch himself suffered from a terrible depression that led to a full-blown nervous breakdown in 1994, exacerbating a lifelong anxiety condition that extended back into childhood. He stood back from the band for a while as he dealt with his mental health, devoting himself to more managerial duties. He joked that he was the group’s accountant.

Recovering from that and the departure of Alan Wilder (he replaced Clarke), Fletch and the guys enjoyed an incredible run of success through the rest of the 90s. There were some financial setbacks–bad investments, really–that took a while to settle. He also owned a restaurant called Gascogne in the 90s. It wasn’t far from Abbey Road Studios in St. John’s Wood. He sold it after ten years but then bought a pub called The Duke of Hamilton in Hamstead.

As far as anyone knew, he’d been healthy, although there was a broken wrist suffered this past April while he was on holiday in Barcelona. And let’s be clear about something: The group has said that he died from natural causes.

He leaves behind his wife Grainne, whom he married in 1993. There are two children, Megan and Joe.

I met him a couple of times. Lovely, quiet man.

Earlier the same day (May 26(, we learned that Yes drummer Alan White had died at the age of 72.

More can be found here.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 37987 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

One thought on “Andy Fletcher, founding member of Depeche Mode, dead at 60

  • This was lovely, Alan. Thanks for not regurgitating the bands twitter feed/post. The only post yesterday that I found that made any sense yesterday was one that contained responses (twitter again) and had a great post by Alison that just touched my heart. Yours did too.

    RIP Fletch. He’ll be greatly missed. I can’t picture DM without him. Sure, he’s no Dave or Martin but he was essential to the band. I never knew just *how* essential until reading some of the posts that actually deigned to talk about him a little beyond the band’s blurb.

    Sorry to all the YES folks for their loss.

    Reply

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