Maxi Jazz, the lead singer of the British electronic band Faithless and known as the voice in trance hits such as “God Is a DJ” and “Insomnia,” has died at the age of 65, the band announced on Saturday.
“He was a man who changed our lives in many ways. He gave our music the right meaning and message,” the other two core members of Faithless, Rollo and Sister Bliss, said in a statement on Facebook.
“He was also a nice person with time for everyone and wisdom that was both profound and accessible.”
The band shared on Twitter that Jazz died peacefully in his sleep. No cause of death was given.
Jazz was born in 1957 as Maxwell Fraser in Brixton, south London. In 1995, he helped found Faithless, which then became one of the most popular dance bands in the UK and around the world.
“He was the nicest man with such an aura. His words and performances have touched so many of us,” wrote British DJ MistaJam on Twitter about jazz.
The
Song “Insomnia” by Faithless from 1995, which features jazz raps about sleep disorders with the refrain “I can’t get no sleep,” was voted the fifth best dance record of all time by readers of the dance music magazine Mixmag in 2013.
The song, which topped the dance charts in many European countries, caused jazz jokes in an interview in 2020: “If I had a pound for every time someone came up, ‘I can’t sleep, ‘I would live on the space station.”
Maxi Jazz, the lead singer of the British electronic band Faithless and known as the voice in trance hits such as “God Is a DJ” and “Insomnia,” has died at the age of 65, the band announced on Saturday.
“He was a man who changed our lives in many ways. He gave our music the right meaning and message,” the other two core members of Faithless, Rollo and Sister Bliss, said in a statement on Facebook.
“He was also a nice person with time for everyone and wisdom that was both profound and accessible.”
The band shared on Twitter that Jazz died peacefully in his sleep. No cause of death was given.
Jazz was born in 1957 as Maxwell Fraser in Brixton, south London. In 1995, he helped found Faithless, which then became one of the most popular dance bands in the UK and around the world.
“He was the nicest man with such an aura. His words and performances have touched so many of us,” wrote British DJ MistaJam on Twitter about jazz.
The
Song “Insomnia” by Faithless from 1995, which features jazz raps about sleep disorders with the refrain “I can’t get no sleep,” was voted the fifth best dance record of all time by readers of the dance music magazine Mixmag in 2013.
The song, which topped the dance charts in many European countries, caused jazz jokes in an interview in 2020: “If I had a pound for every time someone came up, ‘I can’t sleep, ‘I would live on the space station.”