Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode are an English electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. The group consists of founders Dave Gahan (lead vocals), Martin Gore (guitar, keyboards, vocals), and Andy Fletcher (keyboards). Depeche Mode released their debut album Speak & Spell in 1981, bringing the band onto the British new wave scene. Original band member Vince Clarke, left the band after the release of the album, leaving the band as a trio to record A Broken Frame, released the following year. Gore took over the lead songwriting duties and, later in 1982, Alan Wilder officially joined the band to fill Clarke’s spot, establishing a line up that would continue for the next 13 years.

The band’s last albums of the 1980s, Black Celebration and Music for the Masses, established them as a dominant force within the electronic music scene. A highlight of this era was the band’s June 1988 concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, where they drew a crowd in excess of 60,000 people. In the new decade, Depeche Mode released Violator, an international mainstream success.

Depeche Mode have had 50 songs in the UK Singles Chart and seventeen top 10 albums in the UK chart; they have sold over 100 million records worldwide. Q (magazine) included the band in the list of the “50 Bands That Changed the World!”. Depeche Mode also rank number 98 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. In December 2016, Billboard magazine named Depeche Mode the 10th most successful dance club artist of all time.

In October 2017, it was announced Depeche Mode are one of the nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

Genres: International Rock, Pop Rock, Alternative Rock