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Philippe Cerboneschi (also known as “Zdar”), one half of of French dance duo Cassius, accidentally died in Paris on Wednesday, his agent has said.
“He made an accidental fall, through the window of a high floor of a Parisian building,” said Sebastien Farran, without giving further details.
Cerboneschi formed Cassius with Hubert Blanc-Francard (aka Boombass) in 1996.
They produced for bands such as Phoenix, Beastie Boys, Franz Ferdinand and French hip hop star MC Solaar.
The two had met a few years earlier, when “Zdar” was already working as a sound engineer for artists like Serge Gainsbourg and had created Motorbass, a first duet with French DJ Etienne de Crécy.
Their music has been described as their “joyful” and a perfect antidote to electronic dance music, and along with acts such as Daft Punk and Air, gave the French musical scene a new direction.
The band’s first album in three years, Dreems, is due to be released on Friday.
Fans started reacting as they woke up to news of the death on Thursday morning.
Cerboneschi was 50.