The Waterboys and World Party star Karl Wallinger has died aged 66.
The Welsh musician – who was born Karl Edmond De Vere Wallinger – passed away on Sunday (10.03.24), according to a statement from his team.
No cause of death was given.
In 2001, he suffered a brain aneurysm, which put his career on hold, however, he later returned to leading pop project World Party and continued to tour until 2015.
World Party’s 1997 classic ‘She’s the One’, which was later covered by Robbie Williams in 1999 and reached number one in the UK Singles Chart, won an Ivor Novello Award.
As well as fronting World Party, Wallinger is best known for his mid-1980s tenure with British-Irish folk rock band The Waterboys, whose biggest hit was ‘The Whole of the Moon’.
He joined the group 1983 and left after two years, but during the brief stint, he made vital contributions to ‘A Pagan Place’ and ‘This Is the Sea’, with his keyboards and synths evolving their sound.
Wallinger also famously worked on Sinead O’Connor’s 1987 debut album, ‘The Lion and the Cobra’, and the late ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ hitmaker returned the favour by providing the backing vocals on his first two World Party albums.
Tributes have flooded in for the songwriter and record producer.
Curt Smith from Tears For Fears wrote on X: “Very sad news, I was a big fan of Karl’s.”
Singer Chesney Hawkes wrote: “We lost one of the all time greats today. Karl Wallinger was a beautiful soul and a genius songwriter. Rest in peace old friend, I hope you find the rainbow…Now stop what you’re doing and go listen to #Worldparty.”
Wallinger leaves behind his wife Suzie Zamit, son Louis, daughter Nancy and two grandchildren.
His family have encouraged fans to share their messages and memories of the musician on social media.