Drummer and producer Keith LeBlanc, who worked with the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Living Colour, Peter Gabriel, the Cure and many more, has died.
The news was confirmed via his label On-U Sound. No cause of death was given.
“All of us at On-U Sound are heartbroken to share the news that the great Keith LeBlanc has passed away,” they wrote on their website. “An incredible drummer, producer and musical maverick, he will be hugely missed. Rest in power, Keith.”
LeBlanc, who started playing drums as a kid after seeing Ringo Starr on television, began his career as a session drummer for Sugarhill records in the early ’80s.
In addition to his writing and production work with the aforementioned artists, plus his own solo releases, LeBlanc also served as a drummer and programmer for a host of other famous names: R.E.M., the Rolling Stones, Robert Palmer, Annie Lennox, Tina Turner, Bryan Ferry, Depeche Mode and Sinead O’Connor.
“Annie Lennox, she was really cool, too. She’s a real singer,” LeBlanc said in a 2023 interview with Burning Ambulance. “A lot of singers have to punch in things and get Auto-Tuned in, but she would go in the studio, just nail it right there, with the musicians. So there was a lot of collaboration there. She left room for that, she was really open and nice, really honest, you know? When it comes right down to it, for something to be really good, it’s got to be really honest. It can’t be fake good. It’s got to be actual good. And Annie left room for that.”
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“Tina Turner I never even got to meet,” he continued. “I just did the drum tracks, because I don’t think she was too well at the time. … I didn’t get a chance to meet her, which I would have liked to, but I got a chance to meet a lot of my heroes, and they never disappointed me, you know, usually.”
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