Very sad news.  

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/steve-mackey-an-artistic-stylish-and-unfailingly-polite-man-who-let-his-bass-do-the-talking-brqcq705s

Steve Mackey: a reserved, artistic man who let his bass do the talking

Pulps bass guitarist has died, aged 56. Will Hodgkinson pays tribute to the musician, producer and DJ whose intelligence and sense of adventure enriched the lives of those around him

In 2011 Steve Mackey turned up with Jarvis Cocker, his fellow Sheffield native and bandmate in Pulp, to do a late-night Saturday DJ slot at a backstage bar at Glastonbury festival. It was one of those legendary rainy years, the site a sea of mud and cagoules, and in true Glastonbury fashion there were plenty of people who had struggled to follow the key rule of pacing yourself. It did not make for a pretty sight. Amid this morass Mackey was a lone figure of dignity and cleanliness: a handsome middle-aged man in a well-cut shirt, playing icy Human League and Kraftwerk classics as people slid about on the soaking wet tarpaulin dancefloor before him. He looked like someone who knew how to live and take care of himself, which makes his death at just 56 all the more shocking.

 While Cocker remains the charismatic star of Pulp, Mackey was his ideal foil, a reserved, artistic man who was content to let his bass guitar playing in the band alongside his songwriting and production for other artists do the talking. I met him twice, first in an interview and then at that Glastonbury. Unlike a lot of reasonably famous musicians, especially ones from Nineties Britpop bands, who all too often mistake brashness and arrogance for impressiveness, Mackey was unfailingly polite

I couldn't process this yesterday. Kept reading more posts and news articles and even listened to Radio 6 all evening to various news bulletins and tributes and it was like some sort of horrible dream. I went on Twitter in the afternoon and saw Steve trending at number 2. I was obviously startled but not initially alarmed until I clicked on it! I always assumed he was the healthiest of all of them, all that running. If he was in hospital for 3 months, presumably he already knew he was ill when he didn't commit to the tour.

Channel 4's The Last Leg included a little tribute to Steve throughout the show last night.

Twitter

-- Edited by Pip on Saturday 4th of March 2023 10:30:27 AM

Eamonn wrote:

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Thanks for mentioning that Will Butler from Arcade Fire tribute in the Guardian, I hadn't seen it.

 

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/music/2023/mar/03/he-had-such-sharp-judgement-yet-you-never-felt-judged-arcade-fires-will-butler-on-working-with-steve-mackey

 

I haven't seen Florence Welch say anything about Stefe yet but I suspect she would be just as lovely about him - everyone seems to be, in a genuine way. Just seems that he was one of life's good guys. Really wish I had met him (he and Candida were the remaining ones on my 'To Pulp' list)

-- Edited by Eamonn on Saturday 4th of March 2023 10:23:22 AM

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There's a nice tweet here from MIA:

 https://twitter.com/MIAuniverse/status/1631418500689596416?s=20