The Prodigy have paid tribute to their first manager Ziggy Chowdry, who passed away earlier this week.
“RIP Ziggy,” the band wrote on Facebook on Sunday morning (March 1), alongside a photo of Chowdry. It is believed that he passed away on Thursday (February 26).
The Prodigy’s tribute continued: “He was our first manager back in 91 and got us our first gig in the 4 Aces, Labyrinth, Dalston. He was a force of nature. Sad news. Rest in peace Zig. Respect LH and M x”
The Prodigy officially formed in October 1990 after Liam Howlett had met dancers Keith Flint and Leeroy Thornhill and vocalist Sharky, aka Sheila Burke. Their first show was in February 1991 at Labrynth in Dalston, East London, the club now known as The Four Aces.
Chowdry was a local promoter and he connected with the band, becoming their first manager. They had met rapper and MC Maxim Reality shortly before that first show, and he joined them during the performance, improvising lyrics on stage.
The Prodigy gained a breakthrough later in 1991 with their early singles ‘Charly’ and ‘Everybody In The Place’, and went on to be one of the defining electronic groups of the ‘90s, selling 25 million records worldwide and reaching the top the UK singles charts with ‘Firestarter’ and ‘Breathe’. They have also scored seven Number One albums and won two BRIT Awards.
They are set to play a run of four huge outdoor shows this summer, including a return to the Milton Keynes Bowl, as well as a 12-date UK and Ireland arena tour in April and May. See all of the dates here and find any remaining tickets here.
“Every time we go out for a new tour or big shows like this, we spend a lot of time talking about what is possible – how can we make it better,” Howlett told NME in November. “We always try to make sure things are different and moving forward , but always delivering the punch, which it will.”
When Howlett last spoke to NME in 2024 (and the year before that), he had teased progress on new material – saying that they were “writing bigger tunes and finding different ways to sonically attack the crowd”.
When prompted for an update on new material in November, Howlett replied: “Yeah. New Prodigy music will be heard next year.”
