Douglas McCarthy, the co-founding vocalist of English industrial dance outfit Nitzer Ebb, has handed away on the age of 58.
McCarthy’s loss of life was confirmed by Nitzer Ebb’s official social media account on Tuesday (June 11). “It’s with a heavy coronary heart that we remorse to tell that Douglas McCarthy handed away this morning of June eleventh, 2025,” a put up learn.
“We ask everybody to please be respectful of Douglas, his spouse, and household on this tough time,” it added. “We admire your understanding and can share extra data quickly.”
McCarthy co-founded Nitzer Ebb in 1982 alongside faculty mates Vaughan ‘Bon’ Harris and David Gooday, with the group taking inspiration from the post-punk style for his or her early single releases. That sound quickly advanced with extra industrial and digital influences, with the band shortly turning into considered famous figures throughout the ‘digital physique music’ scene – a style that mixed parts of commercial and punk with dance music.
The group’s debut album, That Whole Age, could be issued in Might 1987, and although avoiding chart success, the only “Be part of the Chant” would attain No. 9 on the Dance Membership Songs charts.
Nitzer Ebb would stay a fixture of the chart within the coming years, with singles corresponding to “Management I’m Right here,” “Lightning Man,” and “Enjoyable to Be Had” all showing therein, with the latter giving the band their highest peak when it reached No. 5 in 1990. They might additionally affect the Various Airplay charts, with 1991’s “Household Man” giving them a profession excessive when it reached No. 21.
Whereas 1991’s Ebbhead could be their solely report to achieve the Billboard 200 (peaking at No. 146), their follow-up, 1995’s Large Hit, could be the band’s final for 15 years, with Nitzer Ebb splitting quickly after its launch.
McCarthy would contribute to Recol, the solo challenge of Depeche Mode‘s Alan Wilder all through the ’90s, and later collaborate with French producer Terence Fixmer as one half of Fixmer/McCarthy. Nitzer Ebb would reform in 2006 and launch their closing album, Industrial Complicated, in 2010. In 2013, McCarthy would launch his solely solo album, Kill Your Associates.
Lately, McCarthy had suffered from famous in poor health well being, with Harris taking on vocals for a sequence of 2021 performances after McCarthy collapsed earlier than a present because of a “pre-existing” medical situation. In early 2024, McCarthy announced he would not be performing reside after being recognized with cirrhosis of the liver.