The Fall singer Mark E Smith has died aged 60, confirms the bands manager.
Pam Van Damned said the frontman died at home on Wednesday morning with a more detailed statement to follow "in the next few days".
The statement released through Facebook read:
It is with deep regret that we announce the passing of Mark E. Smith. He passed this morning at home. A more detailed statement will follow in the next few days. In the meantime, Pam & Mark’s family request privacy at this sad time.
Paying tribute, Smith's former bandmate Marc Riley said the singer "taught me a lot about life and he taught me a lot about music".
Riley, now a radio DJ, was on air on BBC 6 Music when the news broke. The pair had a tumultuous relationship - as was the case with Smith and many of the 60-odd musicians who passed through The Fall's ranks.
"Aged 16 he really did teach me so much," Riley told listeners.
"The Fall were my favourite band when I joined and they were still my favourite band when I got kicked out." Simon Wolstencroft, who was the band's drummer for 11 years, told the BBC Smith was a "funny guy" and "very intelligent".
Singers Lisa Stansfield and Billy Bragg paid tribute to Smith saying a "cultural icon" had died, as did BBC 6 Music's Lauren Laverne.
Mark E. Smith formed The Fall in 1976 in Prestwich near Manchester in the UK. He was inspired to form a punk band after seeing The Sex Pistols at the Manchester Free Trade Hall gig in June ’76. That gig would later be written up as historic. While only 40 people attended the show, the audience included Smith, Morrissey, Bernard Sumner, Ian Curtis and Peter Hook and Mick Hucknall, all before they formed their own iconic bands.
Smith sang vocals on the Gorillaz track ‘Glitter Freeze’ from the Plastic Beach album.
The Fall released 32 albums between 1979 and 2017. The most recent was ‘New Facts Emerge’ in 2017. The album caused controversy when it was released on 28 July 2017 because of the song ‘Victoria Train Station Massacre’. The Ariana Grande terrorist attack had occurred just weeks earlier. The station is partly under the site of the bombing.
The Fall never achieved the successes of their contemporaries like the Sex Pistols, The Smiths or New Order but they did manage one Top 10 album ‘The Infotainment Scan’ in 1993.
The Fall’s biggest UK hit was ‘1987’s ‘There’s A Ghost In My House’ although in New Zealand they managed three Top 40 hits with ‘Totally Wired’ (1980), ‘Lie Dream of a Casino Soul’ (1981) and ‘The Man Whose Head Expanded’ (1983).
Although Smith’s cause of death has not been revealed he cancelled The Fall 2017 dates because of a “bizarre and rare medical issues… connected to his throat, mouth/dental & respiratory system” and later before one show in a wheelchair.
