After a long illness Deichkind co-founder dead at the age of just 47
He was one of the co-founders of the German rap band Deichkind and later performed on stage as part of Olli Dietrich's country project Texas Lightning. Now Malte Pittner has died after a long illness.
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- Great sadness in the music scene: Malte Pittner, co-founder of the cult band Deichkind, has died at the age of just 47.
- The German band announced the news on their Instagram account.
- "We wish you, dear Malte, all the best on your final journey. Rest in peace," the musicians wrote.
Deichkind, one of the most successful German hip-hop groups, was founded in 1997. Malte Pittner was part of it.
He was part of the Hamburg band until 2005. Now the musician has died after a long illness.
Pittner's time with Deichkind saw the release of their first two albums "Bitte ziehen Sie durch" (2000) and "Noch fünf Minuten Mutti" (2002), which marked the beginning of the group's success story.
Both albums reached number 17 in the German album charts. "Bitte ziehen Sie durch", which stayed in the charts for 19 weeks, also contained the first Deichkind hit "Bon Voyage", which reached number 11 in the singles charts.
Returning alongside Olli Dietrich
Malte Pittner is said to have played a greater creative role on these first two albums. This could also explain why the group underwent a change in style after his departure in 2005 and increasingly incorporated elements of synth-pop and electropunk into their music.
In 2006, the album "Aufstand im Schlaraffenland" was released together with the hit "Remmidemmi (Yippie Yippie Yeah)", on which Pittner was still listed as a co-songwriter.
But Pittner himself also underwent a change of style when he reappeared on the German music scene after a few years: from 2009, he was part of Texas Lightning, the country band of comedian and musician Olli Dietrich, as a guitarist.
Malte Pittner's former bandmates from Deichkind bid farewell to their co-founder in a post on their Instagram channel. "He was a brilliant musician, entertainer and an incredibly talented songwriter and lyricist - not just for Deichkind," it reads.
According to the post, Pittner had "withdrawn from the public eye" in recent years. "We wish you, dear Malte, all the best on your final journey. Rest in peace," the musicians continued. "We would like to ask you all to respect the privacy of his family and friends."
