The Prodigy's Manager Pays Tribute To Keith Flint: "Witty, Charming, Pensive And Mercurial"

Following the tragic news of Keith Flint's passing this week, tributes have been flying in for the late frontman of The Prodigy – from Foo Fighters to Slipknot to Skrillex.

Now, the band's manager Nick Halkes – who managed them from the very beginning – has posted a video to his Instagram of old footage from a party where they performed, writing about how Keith had an "immense" onstage presence and was an "extraordinary performer", while also being "witty, charming, pensive and mercurial" away from the settings of a live show.

Read Nick's touching and insightful tribute in full:

"Without Keefs contribution to #TheProdigy, life would have been quite different for me and there have been no shortage of voices over the last 36 hours expressing the sense of loss that accompanies the departure of this extraordinary performer.

"Having signed The Prodigy to XL before they played their first gig I was fortunate to have a unique insight into the very early stages of the bands development. In the early 90s they once found themselves playing a bar in Florida.Many of the people in there were looking at the tiny stage with bemusement. Undeterred, Keef left the stage and spent an extended period firing things up from in amongst the audience, connecting with every single person in there individually until he took up a position on top of the bar once he had the knowledge that he had won all doubters over. By the summer of 1997 they had a number one album all over the planet.

"Whether it was an underground rave in the early 90s, one of 2018s phenomenal tour dates or any number of performances across the spaces inbetween Keef and Maxim were always an incendiary combination out front.Liams beats could not have been in better hands and it was in the live arena that Keef burned brightest.

"Onstage Keefs presence was immense. Offstage he could be witty, charming, pensive and mercurial.

"Post gig celebrations could provide memorable moments too and with Keefs birthday imminent, an impromptu party once kicked off backstage after a festival in Serbia. With Keef in his element and Skrillex and Caspa playing back to back for fun the dressing room was soon full to capacity as other artists and crew attempted to join the festivities. A bit of quick thinking was necessary and before long the partition wall which separated the party room from another space was torn down to the accompanying cheers of attendees as the capacity of the unscheduled party venue suddenly doubled and the good times continued well into the daylight hours.

"Whilst there was much complexity to the man, an easier and simpler memory is of Keef enjoying life and shining brightly – onstage or off."

Our thoughts are with Keith's family, friends, bandmates and everyone who knew him at this sad time.

If you have been affected by Keith's passing, you can contact the Samaritans in the UK on 116 123, or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the U.S. on 1-800-273-8255. For all other global suicide helplines, see Befrienders Worldwide.