LOS ANGELES — Andy “Fletch” Fletcher, the unassuming, bespectacled, red-headed keyboardist who for more than 40 years added his synth sounds to Depeche Mode hits like “Just Can’t Get Enough” and “Personal Jesus,” has died at age 60.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.
The band would break out a year later with their debut album “Speak and Spell,” which opened with the modest hit “New Life” and closed with one of the band’s enduring hits, “Just Can’t Get Enough.”The group would find international success with 1984′s “Some Great Reward” and the single “People are People,” and their prominence would only grow throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.
A fan of soccer team Chelsea FC with a penchant for chess, Fletcher assumed a low-profile in the group. He did not sing or write songs, and his face never as familiar as those of his bandmates. “His keyboard sounds crafted not just Depeche Mode’s sonic approach but shifted the direction of Techno, EDM, Downtempo, Triphop, & Electronica. Crucial loss,” Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid tweeted.