Andy Hughes of The Orb Dies

Pitchfork.com is reporting that Andy Hughes of seminal ambient electronic act The Orb passed away Friday at age 43 after a short illness.

Here is his obituary:

"Andy was a genius who gave so much inspiration and passion to all with his incredible work. He was loved by many aficionados of the trance/ambient genre, but will be especially remembered for his work with Alex Paterson and The Orb, most notably the album Orblivion and single Toxygene, which reached number 4 in the UK charts in 1997. Together with his musical partners Alex Patterson and former members Kris Weston, Simon Phillips and Thomas Fehlmann together with Nick Burton of Westworld fame. Andy created electronic and ambient/techno/house/dub masterpieces. These took him across the globe where he played to masses of fans in countries including the USA, Japan and Canada as well as a sell out concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 1998.

Prior to his Orb years he had helped to design and build the studios for Bunk Junk & Genius and worked with many famous artists. He was with the Orb until 1999 during which, along with his musical input including the Live 93 album, he assisted with the building of their Back Passage studio in Clapham.

In 2000 he started producing music on his own and more recently produced music for artists such as Kovak and Basement Jaxx at their neighboring studios in Brixton, London.

Andy was a doting and loving father who always made time for his children Gabriel and Circe and their father’s passing will leave a chasm in both their lives.

Andy’s funeral will take place at West Norwood Crematorium, Norwood Road SE 27on Monday 29th June ’09 at 11.45am.

The service will be open to anyone wishing to attend. It is hoped to arrange a Tribute concert in the future to allow his many fans and friends to meet up."