Tangerine Dream founder Edgar Froese has died after a musical career exploring the possibilities of electronic sounds. He was 70.
Froese “suddenly and unexpectedly passed away from the effects of a pulmonary embolism,” Tangerine Dream said on its web site.
” ‘Edgar once said: “There is no death, there is just a change of our cosmic address,’ ” the band noted. Froese died Jan. 20 in Vienna.
Froese was the sole sustaining member of the futuristic German band he started in 1967. It arrived in Berlin about the same time as rock music’s adoption of the synthesizer. Froese previously played in a psychedelic band called the Ones, with Tangerine Dream adopting some of the dreamlike properties of the hippie-era bands he admired, such as the Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd.
Froese rejected the labels of krautrock and “electronic music,” although his band usually found itself described with both labels. Active over six decades, Tangerine Dream proved vastly influential in the loosely defined genres of electronica, trance, electronic dance music, ambient and even new age music.
Many listeners first encountered Tangerine Dream in cinemas, with electronic scores for “Risky Business,” “Sorcerer,” “Thief,” “Near Dark” and “Miracle Mile.” Director William Friedkin tweeted of Froese’s passing: “Sad news about Edgar Froese. Tangerine Dream … were an important band of my youth. RIP.”
Born in East Prussia, Froese cited the artist Salvador Dali as a major influence. Froese played keyboards and guitar, and was known for creating his own electronic instruments.
Tangerine Dream released something like a hundred albums over the decades, employing numerous band members. Its classic lineup featured Froese, Christopher Franke, and Peter Baumann — all keyboardists who sometimes performed in the dark. The band later would adopt ambitious psychedelic light shows.
Their most widely cited albums included “Atem” and “Phaedra.” Froese also released many solo albums.
In later years, the band added vocals and took to covering psychedelic music classics such as “Purple Haze” and “Tomorrow Never Knows.”
It worked on the soundtrack for a “Grand Theft Auto” installment in 2013.
In June, Tangerine Dream released the studio album “Chandra: The Phantom Ferry Part II.”
His son Jerome Froese, who played in the band from 1990 to 2006, said in an announcement: “The Captain has left the ship. … As you already know: Life plays no encores. Rest in peace Edgar, you will be sadly missed.”
Absolute Genius! RIP…