Keith Flint: The fast life of The Prodigy star

Keith Flint became one of the best known faces of 1990s British electronic music with The Prodigy, but there was more to this firestarter than meets the eye.

Keith Flint lived a fast life on and off stage.

As the frontman of The Prodigy, he became one of the best known faces of 1990s British electronic music.

Heavily tattooed and topped with a bleached mohawk, he would dance like crazy on stage where he took on the life of a “mythical creature”.

Away from the limelight he loved women, booze and motorcycles.

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Definitely not one to conform, RIP Keith Flint. Picture: AP

EARLY YEARS

— Flint had a rough childhood after his parents split up and fought with his dad to the point that his dad kicked him out of home. In a 2015 interview with GQ he said: “I didn’t have a great home life so I was always out looking for another family, which got me into good and bad situations,” he said of his association with skinheads and mods.

Keith Flint packed a lot in his short life. Picture: AP

— He battled dyslexia and was so disruptive at school that he was referred to a psychologist. After cutting his hair into one of his eccentric styles he was expelled from school at the age of 15.

— A young Flint was sent to a ‘special school' where he claims they used hypnosis in a bid to calm him down.

— Flint is said to have a high IQ, but he claimed the problem was he was “on the spectrum somewhere”.

— After dropping out of school, he tried different jobs including working as a roofer but found his true calling when he met Liam Howlett and they formed The Prodigy.

Flint had a tough childhood after his parents divorced and battled dyslexia.

MUSIC CAREER

— Flint first joined The Prodigy as a dancer, later becoming a frontman alongside rapper Maxim.

— He was also the lead singer of his own band Flint, which included Jim Davies, Kieron Pepper, Rob Holliday, and Tony Howlett. The band performed several gigs, their first being a brief set at the inaugural Download Festival 2003, but eventually split up.

— Flint remixed Marilyn Manson’s mOBSCENE, with Flint providing new vocals.

ECLECTIC WOMEN

— Flint famously dated Scottish TV presenter Gail Porter from 1999 to 2000. The unlikely couple were dubbed ‘Beauty and the Beast’ because of the difference in their appearances.

Gail Porter hosted Top of the Pops.

— In 2006, the singer went on to marry Mayumi Kai, a Japanese DJ who works under the name Super Megabitch, but they separated. Speaking to The Times in 2009, Flint spoke about his good luck in Mayumi, who he described as “beautiful, f---ing cool”.

SPORTY SIDE

— In 2007 he rode 2400km across Europe to attend the Spanish motorcycle grand prix in Jerez. He created Team Traction Control, his own motorcycle team, which raced in the British Supersport Championship and won two events in the 2015 Isle of Man TT races.

— He kept fit by boxing or practising jiu-jitsu.

Keith Flint, left, found his true calling in The Prodigy with Liam Howlett and Maxim.

PRIVATE LIFE

- Flint went on to battle depression and drug and alcohol addiction. The star said: “Yeah, it was a dark period. I was drinking and taking too many drugs. The problem is, you’ve got s--tloads of cash and s--tloads of time and all you’re doing is looking for a buzz. I did f--k all really, apart from being a jerk.” But he turned his life around after meeting his Japanese wife.

The Prodigy sold 30 million records.

QUIET LIFE

— He gave up alcohol in 2008 but started again a few years later, going so far as to buy his own pub. Between 2014-17, he owned and renovated The Leather Bottle pub in Pleshey, Essex.

— He took great pride in his Tudor manor house near Felsted, Essex, and even bought the surface of a street in Bristol to obtain the right sort of cobbles for his driveway.

Originally published as Keith Flint: The fast life of The Prodigy star