The fledgling hardcore breakbeat sound was perfect for an old hip-hop fan fluent in uptempo dance music, and Howlett began producing tracks in his bedroom studio during 1988. He began listening to hip-hop in the mid-'80s and later DJed with the British rap act Cut to Kill before moving on to acid house later in the decade. Howlett, the prodigy behind the group's name, was trained on the piano while growing up in Braintree, Essex. Even before the band took their place as the premiere dance act for the alternative masses, the Prodigy had proved a consistent entry in the British charts, with over a dozen consecutive singles in the Top 20. Yet it was always producer Liam Howlett's studio wizardry that launched the Prodigy to the top of the charts during the late-'90s electronica boom, spinning a web of hard-hitting breakbeat techno with king-sized hooks and unmissable samples.ĭespite electronic music's diversity and quick progression during the '90s - from rave/hardcore to ambient/downtempo and back again, thanks to the breakbeat/drum'n'bass movement - Howlett modified the Prodigy's sound only sparingly swapping the rave-whistle effects and ragga samples for metal chords and chanted vocals proved the only major difference in the band's evolution from their debut to their worldwide breakthrough with third album The Fat of the Land in 1997. Ably defeating the image-unconscious attitude of most electronic artists in favor of a focus on frontmen Keith Flint and Maxim Reality, the group crossed over to the mainstream of pop music with an incendiary live experience that approximated the original atmosphere of the British rave scene, even while leaning close to arena rock showmanship and punk theatrics. Keith Flint died by suicide on 4 March 2019.The Prodigy navigated the high wire, balancing artistic merit and mainstream visibility with more flair than any electronica act of the 1990s. Liam Howlett briefly used the pseudonym Earthbound (6) (named after Liam's studio) for the original white-label summer releases of 'One Love' (1993). Their initial deal with XL was for 4 singles, with XL paying a £1500 advance prior to the first single. Sharky left the group at Christmas 1990 after they got their record deal with XL as she didn't want to devote more time to the band. Maxim was recruited at short notice to MC at their debut gig at Labrynth in Dalston, London. The original Prodigy line-up was Liam on keyboards and Leeroy, Keith and Sharky as dancers. Liam Howlett (head of the group, producer)

Their early music was mostly rave/breakbeat, but has become more mainstream mixing in rock guitars with the third album 'The Fat Of The Land' (1997). Their first release was single 'What Evil Lurks' (1991). British electronic group, founded in 1990.

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