Maxi Jazz is dead: Faithless singer turned 65

Maxi Jazz, lead singer of the British electronic music group Faithless, died on Friday, the group confirmed on Facebook. Jazz, whose real name was Maxwell Fraser, “died peacefully in his sleep” at his home in south London, Faithless member Sister Bliss said on Twitter. A cause of death has not been released. Jazz turned 65.

He was a man who changed our lives in many ways. He gave our music the right meaning and message,” Faithless members Rollo and Sister Bliss said in a statement on Facebook.

“He was also a lovely person with time for everyone and a wisdom that was both deep and accessible,” he added: “He was a brilliant lyricist, a DJ, a Buddhist, a great stage presence, ‘ a car enthusiast, endless orator, beautiful person, moral compass and genius.”

Jazz formed Faithless in 1995 with Rollo Armstrong, Jamie Catto and Sister Bliss. He was the lead singer in the group from 1995 to 2011 and again in 2015.

In the group’s 1995 song “Insomnia,” Jazz raps about insomnia with the refrain “I can’t get no sleep.” The hit has sold over a million copies and was voted the fifth greatest dance record of all time by readers of Dance Music Magazine mixing power In 2013.

In a 2020 interview with The protectorJazz explains how “Insomnia” came about.

Jazz said he received a call from Rollo asking if he could write some lyrics for the song. “I wrote down my thoughts on a legal book for 20 minutes, finished the lyrics in the studio the next night and then spent about 25 minutes recording the vocals,” he said. “That’s it.”

He also noted that the first line, “Deep in the bose of the gentle night,” was a change forced on the band by MTV, who felt that the original line – “I smoke weed if I need to” – was too graphic.

British DJ MistaJam paid tribute to jazz on Twitter. “I only met him once in real life and he was the nicest guy with such an attitude,” MistaJam wrote. “His words and actions touched many of us and he will be greatly missed. “