Keith Charles Flint (17 September 1969 – 4 March 2019) was an English singer, motorcyclist, dancer and a vocalist of the

electronic dance Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

act

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboardist, and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured Rapping, MC and vocalist Maxim (musician), Maxim, dancer and occasi ...

. Starting out as a dancer for the group, he became the vocalist and performed on the group's two UK number-one singles, " Firestarter" and " Breathe", both released in 1996. He was also the singer of his own band,

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

. Flint owned a motorcycle racing team, Team Traction Control, which won four

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...

races in 2015 and 2016, and competed in the

British Superbike Championship The British Superbike Championship (BSB), known for sponsorship reasons as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, is a road racing championship for superbike class machines in the United Kingdom and acknowledged as the premier domestic s ...

. He died at age 49 from

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

, while an

inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a cor ...

could not rule whether it was suicidal or accidental.

Early life

Flint was born in

Redbridge, London Redbridge is an area of Ilford in East London, England. It gives its name to (and is part of) the London Borough of Redbridge, a local government district of Greater London, with which it should not be confused. Etymology The name comes from a ...

, to Clive and Yvonne Flint, on 17 September 1969. Clive Flint worked as an

engineering consultant Engineering consulting is the practice of performing engineering as a consulting engineer. It assists individuals, public and private companies with process management, idea organization, product design, fabrication, maintenance, repair and operati ...

. Keith Flint was initially raised in

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

, but in the mid-1970s his parents moved out to a quiet

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a ''cul-de-sac'' (; , ), a no-through road or a no-exit road, is a street with only one combined inlet and outlet. Dead ends are added to roads in urban planning designs to limit traffic in residential areas. Some d ...

in Springfield, in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. His childhood was described as unhappy, and he feuded with his parents, who parted when he was young. He attended the Boswells School in

and moved to Braintree after leaving school. Flint was described as being a "bright boy with

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

" and was disruptive in class. He was expelled from school at the age of 15. Flint then worked as a

roofer A roofer, roof mechanic, or roofing contractor is a tradesman who specializes in roof construction. Roofers replace, repair, and install the roofs of buildings, using a variety of materials, including shingles, single-ply, bitumen, and met ...

and later enthusiastically embraced the

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just " acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synt ...

scene of the late 1980s. Musically, Flint was a childhood fan of

The Jam The Jam were an English rock band formed in 1972 in Woking, Surrey, consisting of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. They released 18 consecutive top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in ...

, and in the late 1980s he listened to bands like

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees ( ) were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. Post-punk pioneers, they were widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later ...

. In 1989, he appeared as the boy running in the video for the

new beat New beat is a Belgian electronic dance music genre that fuses elements of new wave, hi-NRG,Simon Reynolds: ''Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture.'' Routledge 1999, , p. 124. EBM and hip hop (e.g. scratching).Timor ...

act 101's video for ''Just As Long As I Got You''.

Music career

Flint met DJ

Liam Howlett Liam Paul Paris Howlett (born 21 August 1971) is an English record producer, musician, DJ, songwriter, co-founder and leader of the British electronic band the Prodigy. Early years Liam Paul Paris Howlett was born on 21 August 1971 in Braint ...

at local

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

the Barn in

Braintree, Essex Braintree is a town in Essex, England, and is the principal settlement of Braintree District. It is located north-east of Chelmsford, west of Colchester and north-west of Southend-on-Sea. According to the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 Cens ...

, and said he liked Howlett's taste in music. After receiving a

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

from Howlett, Flint came back with great enthusiasm, insisting that Howlett should be playing his tracks up on stage and that Flint, along with friend

Leeroy Thornhill Leeroy Thornhill (born 8 October 1968) is a British electronic music artist and formerly a rave dancer and occasional keyboardist for the British electronic group the Prodigy. Thornhill's live performances throughout the 1990s included his uniq ...

, would dance to them. Flint, Howlett and Thornhill were joined by MC

Maxim Reality Keith Andrew Palmer (born 21 March 1967), better known by his stage name Maxim (previously Maxim Reality), is a British musician, known for being a vocalist of electronic music band The Prodigy. Pre-Prodigy history Keith Andrew Palmer was born ...

and became the successful electronic dance act

. In 1996, just prior to the release of The Prodigy's third album, Flint moved from being a dancer for the group to being its frontman when he performed vocals on the hit single " Firestarter"; the accompanying video showcased Flint's new and soon-to-be iconic

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

look.Roberts, David (2006).

British Hit Singles & Albums ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (originally known as ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' and ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums'') was a music reference work, reference book originally published in the United Kingdom by the p ...

. London: Guinness World Records Limited. This trend continued with the next Prodigy single, " Breathe", on which Flint sang vocals, with

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment *Maxim (magazine), ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** Maxim (Australia), ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** Maxim (India), ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim ...

backing him up. The 1997 album ''

The Fat of the Land ''The Fat of the Land'' is the third studio album by English electronic music group The Prodigy, released on 30 June 1997 through XL Recordings. The album received critical acclaim and topped the UK Albums Chart and the US ''Billboard'' 200. ...

'' also featured Flint's vocal contributions on the tracks "Serial Thrilla" and "Fuel My Fire". In 2002, the non-album single " Baby's Got a Temper" was released, which was written by Flint. Flint did not perform vocals on the next Prodigy album—''

Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned ''Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned'' is the fourth studio album by English electronic music group the Prodigy. It was first released on 11 August 2004 in Japan, on 23 August 2004 in the United Kingdom by XL Recordings, and on 15 September 20 ...

'' (2004)—but reappeared on the "Hotride (El Batori Mix)", included on the " Hotride" single. The Prodigy album ''

Invaders Must Die ''Invaders Must Die'' is the fifth studio album by English electronic dance music group The Prodigy. The album was released on 23 February 2009 on the band's new record label Take Me to the Hospital, and was distributed by Cooking Vinyl. Althou ...

'' was released on 23 February 2009 and featured vocals by Flint on multiple tracks. Flint released a single titled "War" with

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken ...

artist

Caspa Gary McCann, known professionally as Caspa (born 30 May 1982), is a dubstep music producer from West London. Biography McCann's creative involvement in music began after a promising basketball career was cut short by a shoulder injury. Growing ...

in 2012. Flint experimented with solo projects, including his

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band

, which included remixes by Steven "Stitch" Held at The Recovery Room and Clever Brains Fryin'. Flint's debut album, ''Device #1'', was cancelled before its release, leaving "Aim4" as their only single to be commercially released.

Motorcycle racing

Flint was a keen

motorcyclist Motorcycling is the act of riding a motorcycle. For some people, motorcycling may be the only affordable form of individual motorized transportation, and small-displacement motorcycles are the most common motor vehicle in the most populous co ...

. He rode from England to southern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

to attend the

2007 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix The 2007 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix was the second round of the 2007 MotoGP championship. It took place on the weekend of 23–25 March 2007 at the Circuito de Jerez. MotoGP classification 250 cc classification 125 cc classification Cha ...

and also

raced In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...

in club competitions. He rode with Lee Thompson of the band

Madness Madness or The Madness may refer to: Emotion and mental health * Anger, an intense emotional response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat * Insanity, a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns * ...

. He had his own motorcycle team, Team Traction Control, which competed in the

British Supersport Championship British Supersport Championship is a support series to the British Superbike Championship (BSB) for engine capacities smaller than Superbike. British Supersport runs one or two rounds per weekend at each BSB event. The BSS Championship is seen a ...

as part of the

before stepping up to the

in 2017. In 2015, Team Traction Control machines won two

races, ridden by Ian Hutchinson. The team and Ian Hutchinson repeated their two victories again in 2016.

Personal life

Flint dated television presenter

Gail Porter Gail Porter (born 23 March 1971) is a Scottish television personality, former model and actress. She started her television career in children's TV, before branching out into modelling and presenting mainstream TV. In 1999, she posed nude for ' ...

; the couple split in 2001. In 2006, Flint married Mayumi Kai. The couple were separated at the time of Flint's death. Flint had a

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...

across his stomach of the word "Inflicted", a reference to a lyric in "Firestarter". Flint was difficult on transatlantic flights; on one occasion he had to be restrained from kicking down the door to the cockpit. Prior to his marriage, Flint suffered from depression and an addiction to prescription painkillers. Flint kept fit by

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

and practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu. In 2014, he bought and renovated the Leather Bottle pub in

Pleshey Pleshey is a historic village and civil parish in the Chelmsford district, in the county of Essex, England, north-west of Chelmsford. The Normans built a motte-and-bailey castle in the late 11th century; the motte is one of the largest of its ...

, Essex, and became a popular landlord. Flint kept a

jar A jar is a rigid, cylindrical or slightly conical container, typically made of glass, ceramic, or plastic, with a wide mouth or opening that can be closed with a lid, screw cap, lug cap, cork stopper, roll-on cap, crimp-on cap, press-on ca ...

in which customers were required to put a pound in if they made a "Firestarter" joke as he lit the pub's fire. He ended his connection with the pub without explanation in 2017. Flint lived in a listed Tudor

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

near Dunmow, Essex. He had a small

flat track Dirt track racing is a form of motorsport held on clay or dirt surfaced banked oval racetracks. Dirt track racing started in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 1930s using both automobiles and motorc ...

in his back garden, where he rode some of his motorcycles. Flint was a lover of animals and was an enthusiastic

twitcher Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescope, ...

; he built a pond in his garden to attract birds and kept several dogs and horses at his home. He also enjoyed the countryside and rode with a fox hunt for several years.

Death

On 4 March 2019,

Essex Police Essex Police is a territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Essex, in the East of England. Essex Police is responsible for a population of over 1.8 million people and an area of . The chief constable is Ben-Julian Harring ...

were called to Flint's home in North End, in response to concerns for his welfare. Flint was pronounced dead at the scene, aged 49. The police did not treat the death as suspicious. That day, bandmate Liam Howlett stated in an

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

post that Flint's death was a

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

. Flint's funeral was held on 29 March 2019. At an 11 March 2019

into his death, it was announced that he had died as a result of hanging. Another coroner's inquest on 8 May 2019 determined there was insufficient evidence for a suicide or accident verdict.

Cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

, alcohol, and

codeine Codeine is an opiate and prodrug of morphine mainly used to treat pain, coughing, and diarrhea. It is also commonly used as a recreational drug. It is found naturally in the sap of the opium poppy, ''Papaver somniferum''. It is typically use ...

were found in his system at the time of his death. The coroner adjourned the inquest until 23 July 2019 for a full hearing.

Legacy

After Flint's death, fans used the hashtag "#Firestarter4Number1" on social media in a campaign to try to get the song " Firestarter" to Number 1 in the UK Singles Chart as a mark of respect for Flint and to raise awareness for

male Male (Planet symbols, symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or Egg cell, ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot sexual repro ...

suicide in the UK. Following his death, many musical artists and music industry figures from around the world paid tribute to Flint. Many tributes highlighted Flint's gentle temperament, illustrating a personal kindness, politeness and generosity that contrasted with his energetic and sometimes aggressive stage persona. Fellow British musician and

Jamiroquai Jamiroquai ( ) are an English acid jazz and funk band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in th ...

frontman

Jay Kay Jason "Jay" Kay (born Jason Luís Cheetham, 30 December 1969) is a British singer and songwriter. In 1992, he co-founded the acid jazz and funk band Jamiroquai and still serves as their lead vocalist. As of 2017, the band had sold more than 26 ...

said, "What bloody tragic news. What a top fella and a great laugh. I hope they've got a quick bike for him up there.. cos he fucking sure knew how to ride one. Keith Flint... always 'balls to the wall'." In June 2019, fashion designer

Donatella Versace Donatella Francesca Versace (; born 2 May 1955), sometimes simply referred to mononymously as Donatella, is an Italian fashion designer, businesswoman, socialite, and model. She is the sister of Gianni Versace, founder of the luxury fashion com ...

dedicated her spring/summer 2020 menswear show in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

to Flint's memory. Versace, who was a friend of Flint's, dressed male models in clothing reflecting his style and they sported Flint's distinctive "Firestarter" hairstyle. Whilst performing at Glastonbury Festival in June 2019,

Liam Gallagher William John Paul Gallagher (born 21 September 1972) is an English singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and co-founder of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis and fronted the rock band Beady Eye from 2010 to 2014, before starting a succes ...

dedicated "

Champagne Supernova "Champagne Supernova" is a song by English rock band Oasis, written by Noel Gallagher. It is the closing track on the band's second studio album, ''(What's the Story) Morning Glory?'' (1995), and was released as the sixth and final single from ...

" to Flint. In the 2020 video game ''

Assassin's Creed Valhalla ''Assassin's Creed Valhalla'' is a 2020 action role-playing game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the twelfth major installment in the ''Assassin's Creed'' series, and the successor to 2018's ''Assassin's Creed Odyss ...

'', a bard named Keith resembling Flint can be found in

, England, as part of a

sidequest A quest, or mission, is a task within video games that a player-controlled character, party, or group of characters may complete in order to gain a reward. Quests are most commonly seen in role-playing games and massively multiplayer online ...

titled "The Prodigy". There, the "Bishop of the Ruins" is denouncing his music as unholy. The character says the presence of the player character, Eivor, is "surely an omen", referencing the Prodigy's song of the same name; when the protesting clergyman starts a fistfight with Eivor, Keith encourages the character to " Smack my Bishop". Kristen McGorry, a writer on the game, confirmed on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that these and other references were intentional tributes to Flint and the band. On 5 August 2021, a Crowdfunder campaign was launched by

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

and mental wellbeing festival "Headstock" to commission

street artist A street artist is a person who makes art in public places. Street artists include portrait artists, caricaturists, graffiti artists, muralists and people making crafts. Street artists can also refer to street performers such as musicians, acr ...

Akse P19 to paint a mural of Flint. The mural, which was unveiled on 9 September 2021, a day ahead of

World Suicide Prevention Day World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is an awareness day always observed on 10 September every year, in order to provide worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides, with various activities around the world since 2003. The International A ...

, is located at Beechwood Road in Hackney, near to where The Prodigy played their first gig at the Four Aces Club in 1990.

Discography

With the Prodigy

* ''

'' (1997) * '' Their Law: The Singles 1990–2005'' (2005) * ''

'' (2009) * '' World's on Fire'' (2011) * ''

The Day Is My Enemy ''The Day Is My Enemy'' is the sixth studio album by English electronic music group the Prodigy. It was released on 30 March 2015 by the record labels Take Me to the Hospital/Cooking Vinyl in the UK and Three Six Zero Music/Warner Bros. Records in ...

'' (2015) * '' No Tourists'' (2018)

With Flint

*'' Device #1'' (2003) (Only released in promo form)

References

Other sources

* *

External links

* *
Keith Flint: Stars and fans recall the Firestarter's soft side
BBC News. Published 5 March 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:Flint, Keith 1969 births 2019 deaths 2019 suicides 20th-century English singers 21st-century English singers Big beat musicians Breakbeat hardcore musicians British techno musicians English electronic musicians English male dancers English male singers English motorcycle racers English people of German-Jewish descent English punk rock musicians Hardcore techno musicians Kerrang! Awards winners People from Braintree, Essex People from Great Dunmow People from Ilford People from the City of Chelmsford Singers from Essex Singers from the London Borough of Redbridge The Prodigy members Deaths by hanging Musicians with dyslexia Flint (band) members British publicans