Andy B次元官网网址淔letchB次元官网网址� Fletcher, keyboardist for British synth pop giants Depeche Mode for more than 40 years, has died at age 60.

Depeche Mode announced the death of founding member Fletcher on its official social media pages.

A person close to the band said Fletcher died Thursday from natural causes at his home in the United Kingdom. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

B次元官网网址淲e are shocked and filled with overwhelming sadness with the untimely passing of our dear friend, family member and bandmate Andy B次元官网网址楩letchB次元官网网址� Fletcher,B次元官网网址� . B次元官网网址淔letch had a true heart of gold and was always there when you needed support, a lively conversation, a good laugh, or a cold pint.B次元官网网址�

Fletcher formed Depeche Mode along with fellow synthesizer players Vince Clarke and Martin Gore, and lead singer Dave Gahan, in Basildon, England in 1980.

The band would break out a year later with their debut album B次元官网网址淪peak and Spell,B次元官网网址� which opened with the modest hit B次元官网网址淣ew LifeB次元官网网址� and closed with one of the bandB次元官网网址檚 enduring hits, B次元官网网址淛ust CanB次元官网网址檛 Get Enough.B次元官网网址�

Clarke would leave the group and be replaced by Alan Wilder after the album.

The group would find international success with 1984B次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淪ome Great RewardB次元官网网址� and the single B次元官网网址淧eople are People,B次元官网网址� and their prominence would only grow throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.

Fletcher would lend his keyboards to classic albums including B次元官网网址淢usic for the Masses,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淏lack CelebrationB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淰iolator.B次元官网网址�

The first of these led to a world tour that brought a live album, a documentary, and a legendary concert at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, that represented the pinnacle of the bandB次元官网网址檚 prominence.

Fletcher assumed a low-profile in the group, his face never as familiar as those of his bandmates.

B次元官网网址淢artinB次元官网网址檚 the songwriter, AlanB次元官网网址檚 the good musician, DaveB次元官网网址檚 the vocalist, and I bum around,B次元官网网址� he said in the tour documentary, B次元官网网址�101.B次元官网网址�

His death leaves Gahan and Gore as the only permanent members of the band.

B次元官网网址擜ndrew Dalton, The Associated Press