Life

UK music producer Andy Weatherall dead at 56

February 18, 2020
Weatherall was acclaimed for his remixes of Primal Scream's 1990 hit
Weatherall was acclaimed for his remixes of Primal Scream's 1990 hit "Loaded", Happy Mondays' "Hallelujah" and New Order's "World In Motion", produced for England's 1990 football World Cup campaign. — AFP

LONDON — Andy Weatherall, the DJ who produced Primal Scream's "Screamadelica" and a pioneer of the acid house movement, died on Monday at age 56 after suffering a pulmonary embolism, his representatives said.

"He was being treated in hospital but unfortunately the blood clot reached his heart. His death was swift and peaceful," a statement from his PR agency said.

"His family and friends are profoundly saddened by his death and are taking time to gather their thoughts."

Weatherall was acclaimed for his remixes of Primal Scream's 1990 hit "Loaded", Happy Mondays' "Hallelujah" and New Order's "World In Motion", produced for England's 1990 football World Cup campaign.

New Order said it was "very saddened" to hear the news, while bassist Peter Hook added: "He was a truly nice, kind man who shared many, many words of wisdom."

Ministry of Sound, the super-club dance venue that opened in 1991, called Weatherall "a master of his craft".

Weatherall helped to document rave culture with the Boys Own fanzine but shunned the path towards becoming a celebrity DJ, preferring to concentrate on creating music instead.

"I don't start a project as such, I just make music every day and see what happens," he told The Independent newspaper in a 2016 interview.

"I'm usually three-quarters of the way through an album when I officially start making it. This is like a hobby, but also a job. I've found a job I like and I've found a level that I like."

On working with Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie for "Screamadelica", he told the BBC: "I was very nervous. I didn't know what you could do and couldn't do.

"But I was full of what Orson Welles called 'the confidence of ignorance'."

The details surrounding his funeral "will be made in due course", his agency said. — AFP


February 18, 2020
HIGHLIGHTS
Life
8 days ago

Jordan's Crown Prince and Princess Rajwa expecting first child this Summer

Life
16 days ago

K-pop star Karina and actor Lee Jae-wook split shortly after going public

Life
20 days ago

Oscar-winning star Louis Gossett Jr. dead at 87