Maxi Jazz, the lead singer of the British electronic band Faithless, has died at the age of 65, the group announced on Saturday.
The musician and DJ — whose real name was Maxwell Fraser — passed away at his home in south London, the dance music act behind 1990s hits including Insomnia and God is a DJ said.
No details were given for the cause of his death.
“We are heartbroken to say Maxi Jazz died peacefully in his sleep last night,” Faithless wrote on Twitter, paying tribute to one of its legendary 1995 founding members. “He was a man who changed our lives in so many ways. He gave proper meaning and a message to our music.”
“He was a lovely human being with time for everyone and wisdom that was both profound and accessible,” it said.
Faithless first emerged in the mid-1990s, earning widespread recognition and critical acclaim with their album Insomnia.
They were seen as pioneers of the emerging dance music genre at the time.
The group, whose other core members included Rollo and Sister Bliss, went on to release six further studio albums as well as several compilation albums during their decades-spanning collaboration.
The most recent release was All Blessed in 2020.
However, Jazz, who also fronted a band of musicians named Maxi Jazz & The E-Type Boys, would be best remembered for Faithless’ earlier tracks, including the 2001 club classic We Come 1.
The band were also renowned for their live performances, and headlined some of the biggest festivals in the world, including on Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage in 2002.
Sister Bliss paid tribute to her bandmate by sharing a black and white photo of him on Twitter.
“Sending love to all of you who shared our musical journey,” she wrote in the post.
Reggae band UB40 also said Jazz was a “lovely guy,” and recalled touring with Maxi Jazz & The E-Type Boys in 2017.
Jazz, who hailed from Brixton in south London, was a lifelong supporter of Premier League soccer team Crystal Palace, and was made an associate director of the club in 2012.
Its official Twitter account described him as a “legendary musician” and said the team would today walk out to a Faithless track in tribute.
DISASTER: The Bangladesh Meteorological Department recorded a magnitude 5.7 and tremors reached as far as Kolkata, India, more than 300km away from the epicenter A powerful earthquake struck Bangladesh yesterday outside the crowded capital, Dhaka, killing at least five people and injuring about a hundred, the government said. The magnitude 5.5 quake struck at 10:38am near Narsingdi, Bangladesh, about 33km from Dhaka, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The earthquake sparked fear and chaos with many in the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people at home on their day off. AFP reporters in Dhaka said they saw people weeping in the streets while others appeared shocked. Bangladesh Interim Leader Muhammad Yunus expressed his “deep shock and sorrow over the news of casualties in various districts.” At least five people,
The latest batch from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s e-mails illustrates the extraordinary scope of his contacts with powerful people, ranging from a top Trump adviser to Britain’s ex-prince Andrew. The US House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on trying to force release of evidence gathered on Epstein by law enforcement over the years — including the identities of the men suspected of participating in his alleged sex trafficking ring. However, a slew of e-mails released this week have already opened new windows to the extent of Epstein’s network. These include multiple references to US President Donald
LEFT AND RIGHT: Battling anti-incumbent, anticommunist sentiment, Jeanette Jara had a precarious lead over far-right Jose Antonio Kast as they look to the Dec. 14 run Leftist candidate Jeannette Jara and far-right leader Jose Antonio Kast are to go head-to-head in Chile’s presidential runoff after topping Sunday’s first round of voting in an election dominated by fears of violent crime. With 99 percent of the results counted, Jara, a 51-year-old communist running on behalf of an eight-party coalition, won 26.85 percent, compared with 23.93 percent for Kast, the Servel electoral service said. The election was dominated by deep concern over a surge in murders, kidnappings and extortion widely blamed on foreign crime gangs. Kast, 59, has vowed to build walls, fences and trenches along Chile’s border with Bolivia to
DEATH SENTENCE: The ousted leader said she was willing to attend a fresh trial outside Bangladesh where the ruling would not be a ‘foregone conclusion’ Bangladesh’s fugitive former prime minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday called the guilty verdict and death sentence in her crimes against humanity trial “biased and politically motivated.” Hasina, 78, defied court orders that she return from India to attend her trial about whether she ordered a deadly crackdown against the student-led uprising that ousted her. She was found guilty and sentenced to death earlier yesterday. “The verdicts announced against me have been made by a rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate,” Hasina said in a statement issued from hiding in India. “They are biased and politically motivated,” she
RSS