Kraftwerk

from the guardian

Original Kraftwerk member quits
After 40 years of service in the field of icy electronic music, Florian Schneider leaves the band

Kraftwerk's co-founder Florian Schneider has hung up his robo-boots after 40 years of service.

Schneider's departure means that Ralf Hütter is now the only remaining original Kraftwerk member. The band are expected to carry on, with a South American tour supporting Radiohead still scheduled to go ahead in March.

Schneider is credited with helping take electronic music into the mainstream, a fact David Bowie recognised when he recorded the largely instrumental song V2 Schneider, which featured on his Heroes album, after him.

Although Kraftwerk's last album featuring new material was 2003's Tour de France Soundtracks, their influence on pop remains as strong as ever, with a new generation of fans emerging such as synth-boffin Little Boots and electro-whizzkid Metronomy.

The band announced the news of Schneider's departure via their website. He is now expected to turn his attention to solo projects.