Andy Fletcher, Founding Member And Keyboardist Of Depeche Mode, Dead At 60

Fletcher was one of the founders of electronic pioneers Depeche Mode

Andy Fletcher, one of the founding members and keyboardist of Depeche Mode, passed away.

Depeche Mode announced on its official Twitter account Fletcher's passing on Thursday. He was 60.

"We are shocked and filled with overwhelming sadness with the untimely passing of our dear friend, family member and bandmate Andy 'Fletch' Fletcher," the announcement read. "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."

The post concluded, "Our hearts are with his family, and we ask that you keep them in your thoughts and respect their privacy in this difficult time."

The post did not disclose when exactly Fletcher died and the cause of his death.

Fletcher, Dave Gahan, Martin Gore and Vince Clarke formed Depeche Mode in 1980. Clarke left the band after their debut album "Speak & Spell" in 1981.

Of the trio, Fletcher was the least outwardly showy and usually just stood behind the keyboards with his shades while Gahan and Gore roamed the stage, NBC News reported.

In an interview with Electronic Beats in 2013, Fletcher described himself as "the tall guy in the background, without whom this international corporation called Depeche Mode would never work." He also addressed the wrong impression about their band.

"There is this big misunderstanding that in guitar bands real men are working real instruments—evening after evening—while in a synthesizer band like Depeche Mode nobody works, because it's all machines," he said. "But that's bulls--t."

When asked if he and his share in the band was perceived inaccurately, Fletcher said, "It's frustrating not to be taken seriously." He noted that his job was the most important, and without him, there would be no band. However, he also acknowledged that just like in big corporations, "the people that do a good job in the background don't get as much attention as the ones who'd get onto the microphone and announce the good quarterly figures."

In a 2017 interview with The Skinny in the U.K., Fletcher described his relationship with his bandmates. According to him, he and Gore "are very close" while Gahan "is more like a brother to me."

"But what makes bands better than solo artists is the electricity that's generated. Sometimes a band can't stand each other, but that electricity makes for great music," he added. "It's the same with Depeche Mode; we have moments where we don't like each other, and moments when we love each other. It's the electricity that's generated between us all that produces the good music."

According to Fletcher, some people thought they would only last for two or three years, but they proved those people wrong. Their journey had not been easy for them because he felt that it was only after their 14th album "Spirit," which they released on March 26, 2017, that the press started to take them seriously. For him, they didn't receive the recognition from their home market.

"The UK is the country we've had the most criticism from. The press have never really taken us seriously it seems… until this album," he told The Skinny. "Well, we haven't – there's no doubt about that. The problem with Britain is that the press are always looking for the next big thing, and they forget about the last big thing. In America and Europe, they tend to be more loyal."

Fletcher said it was "an amazing dream come true" that the band sustained cultural impact and had gotten more and more popular.

"We seem to be more popular now than we've ever been. We're not a big media band, and it's never been our ambition to be the biggest band in the world – it's just the way things have played out," he added.