Florian Schneider has passed away, confirms the music company Sony in Berlin with reference to co-founder Ralf Hütter, writes Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Florian Schneider founded Kraftwerk together with Ralf Hütter in 1970 in Düsseldorf in what was then West Germany. The first two albums, Kraftwerk and Kraftwerk 2, were completely instrumental in the experimental rock genre called krautrock.

In 1974, the band released the album Autobahn, one of the very first electronic pop records ever. The band achieved great success and toured the world.

Ten studio albums

Kraftwerk released a total of ten studio albums and has achieved great success with his technology-loving and futuristic appearance, despite the fact that the members have remained very anonymous.

Florian Schneiders worked extensively with vocoding and speech synthesis in music. The so-called Robovox is a sign of Kraftwerk's sound.

Kraftwerk also became known for its use of home-made instruments and custom-built synths. The unique sound they created in their studio, Kling Klang Studio, has inspired many artists. David Bowie's song V-2 Schneider on the album Heroes is a tribute to Florian Schneider, and the band Blondie was inspired by Kraftwerk's dancing sound when they wrote their hit Heart of Glass. Kraftwerk has also influenced the entire techno genre.

Florian Schneider left the band in 2009, which is why it is unclear. In 2014, the band was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Grammy.

Florian Schneider turned 73 years old. According to The Guardian, he passed away a week ago and had a private funeral.