Richard H. Kirk

Celebrated not only as the cofounder of Cabaret Voltaire, but also as a prolific solo artist, Richard H. Kirk played an integral role in the development of industrial, techno, and EBM music from the 1970s onward. He was born on March 21, 1956, in Sheffield, Yorkshire, and launched Carabet Voltaire with friends Stephen Mallinder and Chris Watson in 1973. The group's debut, Mix-Up, was released in 1979, one year before Kirk made his solo debut with 1980's Disposable Half-Truths. He continued to balance his active solo career with his work as a member of Cabaret Voltaire for 14 years, releasing solo records like 1983's Time High Fiction, 1986's Black Jesus Voice, and 1993's Virtual State along the way. When Cabaret Voltaire broke up in 1994, he doubled down on his own music, releasing albums like 1995's The Number of Magic and 1998's Knowledge Through Science. He also recorded under a variety of stage names, with Sandoz and Electronic Eye serving as his most active aliases. He later reformed Cabaret Voltaire in 2009, serving as the group's sole member on albums like 2020's Shadow of Fear while continuing to maintain his solo work with 2011's Anonymized, 2017's Dasein, and a variety of compilations. Celebrated as one of the original architects of British electronica, he enjoyed critical acclaim under his passing on September 21, 2021, at 65 years old.

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