The keyboardist of the British band EMF has died.
Derran “Derry” Brownson was 55.
The band announced Brownson’s Aug. 13 death on social media but did not share a cause of death.
EMF wrote on Instagram Aug. 14, “Nothing will ever be the same again without our bandmate and friend. Fly high, brother Derry 💔”
Last year, Brownson told BBC News that he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor, but had undergone surgery to remove it. The band had returned to its hometown of Cinderford for Cindyfest, which the keyboard player called “very, very special.”
“[It’s] just a battle really. I want to get back into playing, that has meant a lot actually just to do this gig now in our hometown,” he told the BBC at the time.
“Doing gigs in your hometown can sometimes be a pain... but this is very, very special to me.”
“It was really a lovely moment, just the circularity of that, all the years later to be back in Cinderford,” Ian Dench said after the death of his bandmate.
“That was a wonderful, wonderful moment before Derry got very ill and, you know, he played that show, he played a handful more shows,” he told the BBC.
Dench said Derry’s final performance was in May in Frome, but they were still in touch, texting each other a few weeks ago.
Stevey Marsh posted a separate tribute to Derry, writing, “Truly an honour to have been your friend as well as a band mate. So many nights of noise, love, mentalness and laughing so hard we couldn’t breathe,” Entertainment Weekly reported.
Brownson was born in Cinderford, England, in 1971 and co-founded EMF in 1989.
Their debut single, “Unbelievable,” came out in 1990 and was an international hit, hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and No. 3 on the U.K. Singles Chart, according to Entertainment Weekly.
They produced three albums before going on a break, with Brownson forming the band LK. Foley died of a drug overdose after EMF reunited for a single show. The remaining members played a few more dates before breaking up, but they reunited a few more times over the years, even producing a new studio album in 2022, “Go Go Sapiens,” their first in 27 years, and a second, “The Beauty and the Chaos,” in 2024, touring for both.
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