Kraftwerk co-founder Florian Schneider has died, aged 73

(Image credit: Ellen Poppinga - K & K / Getty)

Florian Schneider, one of the founding members of pioneering German electronic music group Kraftwerk, has died at the age of 73. The Guardian reports that he died a week ago from cancer, with the news being confirmed by both a musical collaborator and Sony Berlin.

Schneider founded Kraftwerk in 1970 with Ralf Hütter, the two having met while studying in 1968. Having started life as an experimental rock act, the band went on to release a string of hugely influential electronic albums, starting with the seminal Autobahn in 1974.

Schneider began his musical career playing the flute and other acoustic instruments, processing them with effects, but like the rest of Kraftwerk, he became famous for his use of synthesizers.

An enigmatic character, Schneider remained a member of Kraftwerk until 2008, when he left with little explanation

Kraftwerk, circa 1975. Florian Schneider is 3rd left (L-R Wolfgang Flur, Karl Bartos, Florian Schneider and Ralph Hutter)

(Image credit: Kraftwerk / Getty)

His reported death has sent shockwaves through the electronic music community, and provoked an outpouring of grief on social media.

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