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Douglas John McCarthy, singer and co-founder of the EBM band Nitzer EBB, died on Wednesday (June 11, 2025) at the age of 58. The band shared this to the public about their Social media channels with.
“We ask everyone to support Douglas, his wife and family in this difficult time and to accept their privacy,” added the musicians. “We thank you for your understanding and will soon announced more information.”
Douglas McCarthy was born in London in 1966 and founded Nitzer EBB in 1982 together with Vaughan “Bon” Harris and David Gooday as a teenager. Even the band name, which is hardly to be expressed for the British, should be used as a provocation.
Nitzer EBB get hits like “Fun to Be Had”
The first singles were still very inspired by post-punk, but the sound soon developed and was shaped by industrial and electronics influences. Nitzer EBB were with songs such as “Murderous”, “Join in the Chant”, “Control I’m here” and “Fun to Be Had” to pioneers of the Electronic Body Music (EBM), a genre that combined elements from industrial, punk and dance music.
In Germany, Nitz Ebb attracted some attention, especially as a opening act of Depeche Mode on their European tour in 1988. Then her debut album “That Total Age” published on the indie label Mute has been in the record stores for a year. Several songs from the band made it into the top 10 dance charts.
With “Big Hit” from 1995, Nitzer EBB initially said goodbye to the large audience and dissolved. In the 90s, McCarthy had “Recol”, the solo project by Alan Wilder from Depeche Mode, and later worked with the French producer Terence Fixmer (Fixmer/McCarthy).
In 2006 a (unexpected) comeback from Nitzer EBB followed, which provided in 2010 for her last album “Industrial Complex”. In 2013, McCarthy finally published his only solo album “Kill Your Friends”.
In March 2024, the singer retired from the live business for health reasons. He was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. So far, nothing more has been announced about the concrete cause of death.