Chemical Brothers star pays tribute to Keith Flint ahead of Glastonbury set

Chemical Brothers musician Ed Simons has remembered Keith Flint’s “incredible” performance at Glastonbury Festival more than 20 years ago.

The Prodigy star was found dead at his home in Essex on March 4 at the age of 49.

Ahead of playing at Glastonbury Festival on Saturday, Simons paid tribute to Flint, who he first met in the mid-1990s when The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy performed at European festivals alongside each other.

Writing in festival newspaper The Glastonbury Free Press, Simons said that Flint “could see we were a little green and he took the trouble to show us how to do festivals, how to enjoy ourselves”.

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“He was always really kind to us and good fun,” he said.

With The Prodigy, Flint was scheduled to perform at Glastonbury this year, having played at the event several times.

Simons wrote that The Prodigy’s set at Glastonbury in 1997 “blew my mind”.

“He was the focus of such intense passions,” he said of frontman Flint.

“His persona gave permission for thousands of people to reach a state of mania.

“It was an incredible sight.”

Simons, who is one half of electronic duo The Chemical Brothers with Tom Rowlands, wrote that his “abiding memory” of Flint was when he took to the stage at one of their gigs, accidentally kicking the power out.

He wrote: “He was very apologetic afterwards and I remember Tom saying: ‘Don’t worry, you’re Keith from the Prodigy – you can do whatever you like’.

“It’s very sad what has happened and I hope he knew how much he was loved by so many, and what pleasure he gave to thousands and thousands of people.

“Love and respect to his friends and family.”

The Chemical Brothers perform on The Other Stage on Saturday at 10.15pm.