Midge Ure, Matty Healy, and Alex Kapranos have led tributes to Kraftwerk co-founder Florian Schneider, after he passed away aged 73.
The multi-instrumentalist – who played synthesiser, vocoder, flute, sax and performed vocals in the pioneering electronic music group, until his departure in 2008 – passed away last week after he lost his battle with cancer.
And following the tragic news of his death, tributes have flooded in from fellow musicians who mourned the loss of the influential musician.
Ultravox’s Midge Ure shared a link to an article about Florian’s death on Twitter and wrote: "Way ahead of his time."
Whilst The 1975 rocker Matty Healy tweeted: "I am incredibly saddened by the passing of Florian Schneider. All of us in modern music, owe him so much. Rest in peace xx (sic)"
Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos paid tribute to both Florian and The Stranglers’ keyboardist Dave Greenfield, who also died this week, as he wrote: "Sad to hear about Florian Schneider and Dave Greenfield. Two big inspirations in my life."
Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet also took to social media to mourn the loss, as he dubbed Florian as an "important influence" on the music industry.
He wrote: "Such an important influence upon so much of the music we know, from Bowie, to electronica, much of the 80s and beyond into modern techno and rap, Florian Schneider was forging a new Metropolis of music for us all to live in. RIP #FlorianSchneider #Kraftwerk (sic)"
And filmmaker Edgar Wright also posted on Twitter, writing: "To say he was massively influential and changed the very sound of music, is somehow still a understatement. RIP, Florian Schneider, founder member of Kraftwerk. (sic)"
Florian formed the influential German outfit Kraftwerk – who are famed for their phenomenal light shows and use of technology – in 1970 alongside Ralf Hütter and together they pioneered a sound that would go on to inspire artists from an array of genres from synth-pop, techno, rock and beyond.
Late music icon David Bowie was a huge fan of Florian’s work, and even dedicated the track ‘V-2 Schneider’ to him on his seminal 1977 LP, ‘Heroes’.
Whilst Florian was a member of Kraftwerk, they released 10 studio albums together and they were honoured with a number of prestigious accolades, including the Best Dance/Electronic album Grammy in 2017 for ‘3-D The Catalogue’, whilst they were the recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.
Stars pay tribute to Kraftwerk co-founder Florian Schneider
