William Orbit, the Grammy-winning British electronic music producer who helped guide Madonna’s Ray of Light and Blur’s 13, has died at the age of 69.
The producer’s death was announced Friday on his social media account, which noted that Orbit, whose real name was William Wainwright, died July 23 at his home. No cause of death was provided.” “It is with profound sadness that the family and friends of William Orbit announce that William passed away at home on 23rd July 2026,” the statement read.
“We are deeply saddened by his passing. He will be greatly missed by us and by so many whose lives he touched through his music, friendship and kindness. We kindly ask that the privacy of William’s family and close friends is respected during this difficult time.”
Orbit was a member of the electronic music trio Torch Song in the early 1980s, releasing three albums on the IRS label before moving into music production, including creating the soundtrack for the 1986 hockey film Youngblood. After leading the electronic music project Bassomatic in the early 1990s and producing Beth Orton’s 1993 trip-hop album Superpinkymandy, Orbit created remixes for Madonna’s “Justify My Love” and “Erotica,” which laid the groundwork for a larger collaboration with the Material Girl on her Grammy-winning 1998 LP Ray of Light.
The album would go on to win Best Pop Album (and be nominated for Album of the Year) at the Grammys, while the title track won Best Dance Recording. Orbit’s work with Madonna continued with the Austin Powers hit “Beautiful Stranger” and a trio of tracks on her 2000 album Music. A dozen years later, Madonna and Orbit reunited for a handful of songs on her 2012 album MDNA, including singles “Gang Bang” and “Masterpiece.”
In 1999, Orbit linked up with Blur — eager to depart the Britpop sound of their Stephen Street-produced LPs — for their experimental album 13, featuring the band’s hits “Tender,” “Coffee & TV,” and “No Distance Left to Run”; like Madonna, Blur was first introduced to Orbit via his remixes of the band’s music, as featured on their 1998 remix compilation Bustin’ + Dronin’.
“It was a really sweltering day in summer, and Damon [Albarn] had this tiny little studio in West London, no air conditioning. William had just come off of with Madonna, presumably in some incredibly plush studio in California,” Blur’s Alex James told Rolling Stone in 2023. “We were all crammed in there, and William was looking terrified in the corner. Damon wrote down some chords and we all started playing, and I saw William’s mouth drop. He said to me later, ‘How do you just conjure up an arrangement like that?’ And it’s like, ‘Well, just do it every day for 10 years. It’s easy.’”
Orbit’s production credits include songs by U2 (“Electrical Storm”), No Doubt (“Making Out“), Pink (the Beck-penned “Feel Good Time“), as well as tracks by All Saints, Katie Melua, Robbie Williams, Chris Brown, and Spice Girls’ Melanie C, who wrote Friday on social media of their “Go!” single, “Such an honor to have worked with this great man.”
