We all recently had to deal with the disappointment of the postponement of the Orb’s latest tour. Well, a couple weeks ago former Orb collaborator Andy Hughes died at the age of 43.

Early on in his career he designed the Bunk Junk & Genious Studio in South London (UK) where he worked with artists like David Bowie, Pet Shop Boys and Tina Turner. Hughes wasn’t a founding member of the Orb and merely assisted with much of the mid-period Orb material from ’95′s unique Orbus Terrarum to ’97′s wildly popular Orblivion and on through the release of the mostly forgotten Cydonia album from 2001. He also helped build their Back Passage studio in Clapham (South London, UK). His departure from The Orb was notably bitter but then many of the “former members” of that particular act didn’t leave on good terms. It’s Alex Patterson’s baby and he doesn’t allow anyone else to dictate the direction of the act.

Hughes went on to do some high profile production work. He succumbed to a brief illness and passed away at the Liver Intensive Care Unit at Kings College Hospital in London back on June 12th.

43 is much too young to die. And music has lost a beautiful creative mind.