PiL and Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon made a sorrowful statement to TMZ yesterday, expressing his grief over the loss of his friend Keith Flint, singer of The Prodigy.
It has been reported that Flint had been suffering from depression, which may have lead to the 49 year old taking his own life.
Lydon, distraught during the minute long interview remarked that his heart was broken, and that he felt his friend Keith was “left alone”, unloved, and “destroyed”, and asked:
“Why do so many people in this industry be left alone?”Lydon then goes on to add after a thoughtful pause, “Come to me, I’m Johnny.”
The interviewer then followed up by asking if he felt Flint’s death was drug related, Lydon responded “Probably, but what you got to understand is we are not looking after each other anymore, and we should!”
Before being escorted away by long-time manager and friend, John “Rambo” Stevens, Lydon finished by offering his help to those who need it, stating:
“If any of you out there need help, come talk to me, we do not need to die!”
Meanwhile, London venue The Cause has announced a charity fundraiser in honour of the Keith Flint with all proceeds from the night going to the mental health charities Mind and CALM.
“News reports state that Keith took his own life and had suffered depression,” says the event description. “Male suicide IS the single biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK. Mental health affects us all and raising awareness of this was one of the key factors in establishing The Cause.
“As such, together with NLA Artists we are throwing a celebration of the music Keith and The Prodigy inspired, inviting down friends of the club alongside those who the band shared line-ups with and who’s records were played at events during their rise to fame. Expect plenty of Prodigy classics.”
The Music for The Jilted Generation – CALM & Mind Fundraiser scheduled for March 16th. RSVP HERE
Need Help?
In the UK, CALM can be contacted at 0800 58 58 58 and the Samaritans can be contacted at 116 123.
In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found here
