Florian Schneider, co-founder of German electronic group Kraftwerk, has died from cancer. He was 73.
“Kraftwerk co-founder and electro pioneer Ralf Hütter has sent us the very sad news that his friend and companion over many decades, Florian Schneider, has passed away from a short cancer disease just a few days after his 73rd birthday,” the statement reads.
Formed in 1970, Kraftwerk is best known for helping pioneer the use of synthesizers, keyboards and vocoders in pop music, influencing artists as varied as Madonna, Daft Punk and Kanye West. Their songs have been sampled by artists including Coldplay (“Talk”), LCD Soundsystem (“Get Innocuous!”), Miley Cyrus (“Dooo It!”), and Dr. Dre (“Under Pressure” featuring Jay-Z).
Kraftwerk won a lifetime achievement Grammy award in 2014 and the Grammy for best electronic/dance album (for live album “3-D The Catalogue”) in 2018. Last fall, the band was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
