Douglas McCarthy, best known as the co-founder and frontman for Nizter Ebb, has died at age 58.
He had previously stepped away from performing after being diagnosed with liver cirrhosis, a serious and incurable scarring of the liver.
The influential 90s dance band announced his death on Instagram with a statement asking for privacy at this time.
‘It is with a heavy heart that we regret to inform that Douglas McCarthy passed away this morning of June 11th, 2025,’ it read. ‘We ask everyone to please be respectful of Douglas, his wife, and family in this difficult time.
‘We appreciate your understanding and will share more information soon.’
No cause of death was given but in March 2024, McCarthy stepped down from touring after his diagnosis.
In a statement at the time he said he had been sober for two years but ‘following years of alcohol abuse’ was suffering from liver cirrhosis.
McCarthy added that ‘recovery is a long process’ and did not rejoin the band on tour.
Nitzer Ebb formed in 1982, consisting of McCarthy and his school friends Vaughan ‘Bon’ Harris and David Gooday.
Gooday and McCarthy met when they were just 10 years old, forming the band in their teen years and bonding over a love of sneaking into discos and nightclubs.
After experimenting with post-punk sounds, the band evolved into a more industrial and electronic genre — becoming one of the biggest names in the electronic body scene.
McCarthy has cited artists like Roxy Music, Slade, Talking Heads, and even Showaddywaddy as influences on their music.
In 1987, the group released debut album, That Total Age, and secured a number nine spot on the Billboard Club chart with Join the Chant.
They toured with Depeche Mode and continued to rise in prominence with various tracks charting such as Control I’m Here, Lightning Man and Fun to be Had.
In 1995, Nitzer Ebb split with McCarthy moving to Los Angeles and Detroit before reloacting home to the UK and studying design and film at Cambridge.
After a decade-long break, Nitzer Ebb reunited in 2007 and three years later released one final LP called Industrial Complex.
While they continued to tour, McCarthy dropped his own solo album, Kill Your Friends, as well as Recoil with Alan Wilder of Depeche Mode.
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