Martin Phillipps, frontman of New Zealand post-punk band The Chills, has died aged 61.

The band confirmed on their official social media accounts that he died “unexpectedly”. No cause of death has been given.

“It is with broken hearts that the family and friends of Martin Phillipps wish to advise Martin has died unexpectedly,” the statement began.

“The family ask for privacy at this time.

“Funeral arrangements will be advised in due course.”

As the band’s vocalist and guitarist, Phillipps fronted one of the key bands in the New Zealand post-punk movement. The Chills formed in 1980 in Dunedin, melding the nascent post-punk sound that was achieving popularity at the time with influences from the music of the ’60s. Their debut album ‘Brave Words’ was released in 1987.

They were one of the major names on the label Flying Nun Records and helped to pioneer the ‘Dunedin sound’, which was characterised by a blend of punk rock with jangly, psychedelic-influenced riffs.

They split up and reformed numerous times in their first two decades of life, but had remained together since 1999.

The Chills were the subject of a 2019 documentary, The Chills: The Triumph & Tragedy of Martin Phillipps, which told their story and also touched on Phillipps’ brush with death when he suffered from hepatitis C and liver failure.

In total, they released seven albums. Their most recent album, ‘Scatterbrain’, came out in May 2021.

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