Mark Hollis, best-known as the frontman for influential art-pop outfit Talk Talk, has died. His longtime manager, Keith Aspde, confirmed, "Mark has died after a short illness from which he never recovered." Hollis was 64 years old.
Hollis first arrived in the spotlight with Talk Talk's eponymous first single, "Talk Talk," from their 1982 debut, The Party's Over. Two years later, their sophomore album delivered the hits "Such A Shame" and the title track, "It's My Life," which would become a hit again in 2003 when No Doubt covered the song, which earned them a GRAMMY nomination for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals at the 47th GRAMMY Awards.
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The band's third album, 1986's The Colour Of Spring, yeilded their highest-charting U.K. single with "Life Is What You Make It." Hollis' artistic vision continued to expand, as his inventive melodic prasing evolved, and as he explored and experimented with space and silence in music, especially in the band's final album, released in 1991, and his sole solo release, 1998's self-titled album.
While Hollis' commercial success with Talk Talk may have been brief, his influence on the music world looms large, to the rise of post-rock, providing inspiration for fellow groundbreaking British bands Radiohead, Sigur Rós and Elbow.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"Mark was the main songwriter of some truly great songs” <a href="https://twitter.com/TalkTalk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TalkTalk</a> <a href="https://t.co/beH4kGPcmA">pic.twitter.com/beH4kGPcmA</a></p>— Duran Duran (@duranduran) <a href="https://twitter.com/duranduran/status/1100174727434383361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Aspden told NPR. “I can’t tell you how much Mark influenced and changed my perceptions on art and music. I’m grateful for the time I spent with him and for the gentle beauty he shared with us.”
Musicians from accross the music community took to social media to honor Hollis' contributions. In a post by Duran Duran, who toured with Talk Talk in 1982, the band wrote, "Mark was the main songwriter of some truly great songs”
“Mark Hollis started from punk and by his own admission he had no musical ability,” Elbow’s Guy Garvey told Mojo. “To go from only having the urge, to writing some of the most timeless, intricate and original music ever is as impressive as the moon landings for me.”
