British music producer William Orbit has passed away at the age of 69
The family of Orbit, who worked with Madonna, U2, and others, released the announcement of his death; the cause of death was not disclosed. "We will miss him dearly, as will so many whose lives were touched by his music, his friendship, and his kindness," they wrote.
British producer and musician William Orbit, who worked with Madonna, Blur, All Saints, U2, and others, has passed away at the age of 69. In a statement released on his social media by family and friends, it was announced that Orbit died at his home on July 23. The cause of death was not disclosed.
"We will miss him dearly, as will so many whose lives were touched by his music, his friendship, and his kindness," the statement read.
Orbit was best known for Madonna's 1998 album 'Ray of Light', in which he turned trip-hop, jungle, and techno into part of the core language of her pop music. The album sold millions of copies worldwide and earned Madonna three of the five Grammy Awards for which she was nominated in 1999.
Orbit was born in 1956 and grew up in North London, the son of two teachers whom he described as distinctly working-class and poor. He left school at 16, lived in squats, and worked low-paying odd jobs. In 1980, he founded the electronic and ambient trio Torch Song with Laurie Mayer and Grant Gilbert, which released three albums between 1984 and 1987.
Even before his big break with Madonna, Orbit built his own studio with digital and analog equipment, wrote the soundtrack for the film 'Youngblood' with Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze, and did remixes for pop artists, including Madonna. Later, he also released solo albums.
Madonna approached him while looking for a new direction for an album after passing on sessions with R&B producer Babyface. Her manager invited Orbit to send materials, and he was hired for the job. The two worked on most of 'Ray of Light' in studios in New York and Los Angeles.
"William is a completely mad genius," Madonna said of the sessions with him. "I would come to him with an idea of where I wanted to go musically, humming melodies or reading lyrics, and then leave him alone in the studio. Sometimes he would go in the direction I wanted, and sometimes he would veer off to a completely different place. We would end up with eight-minute trance tracks, and then continue to add and subtract until we had real verses and choruses. We really worked hard."
After 'Ray of Light', Orbit continued to work with Madonna on the album 'Music', where he produced three songs, and later produced 'Beautiful Stranger' and her version of Don McLean's 'American Pie'. In 2012, he returned to her for the album 'MDNA', where he co-produced six songs. Earlier this year, he said: "I will always love that woman. Truly. She made my career."
In 1999, 'Pieces in a Modern Style' was released, an album in which he arranged classical pieces, as well as Blur's '13'. The band was looking to change direction after five albums with producer Stephen Street and was impressed by Orbit's previous remixes of their work. Damon Albarn later described Orbit's role on the album as a "psychiatrist."
In the years following his success with Madonna, Orbit worked with Britney Spears, Melanie C, Robbie Williams, Chris Brown, Pink, No Doubt, and Nadine Coyle. With Beck, he co-wrote Pink's 'Feel Good Time', which appeared on the 'Charlie's Angels' soundtrack and reached number three in the UK. Orbit also produced U2's 'Electrical Storm', which reached number five in the UK, and 'The Hands That Built America', which served as the theme for Martin Scorsese's 2002 film 'Gangs of New York'.
He also produced 'The House', Katie Melua's fourth album released in 2010, and later brought to completion 'There Must Be More to Life Than This', a duet by Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson that was originally recorded in the early 80s and released in 2014. At the same time, Orbit continued to release solo albums, including six albums after 'Pieces in a Modern Style' and a sequel to that project released in 2010. His last album was 2022's 'The Painter'. In March of this year, he denied rumors of a new project with Madonna and wrote: "It can be exhausting. It won't happen."
In an interview with the Guardian in 2021, Orbit shared that he had dealt with substance use four years earlier. According to him, alongside heavy marijuana use, he took LSD, mushrooms, MDMA, and cocaine. "I wasn't aware of what I was doing, and in the end, I had a psychotic episode." He was involuntarily hospitalized, and later said: "Luckily, once the drugs were out of my system, I finally became normal again — and got out."
