Written by: Alex Green

Martin Phillipps, the wildly talented singer/songwriter and frontman of the legendary New Zealand band The Chills has died.

Phillipps was 61.

“It is with broken hearts the family and friends of Martin Phillipps wish to advised Martin has died unexpectedly,” read The Chills’ social media accounts.

It went on to say: “The family ask for privacy at this time. Funeral arrangements will be advised in due course.”

The Dunedin, NZ band are one of the most influential indie pop outfits of all time and Phillipps was a creative force who sang about submarines, summer and leather jackets with effortless pop charm. Their sonic attack, which fused psychedelia with jangly pop, produced classic albums like Submarine Bells, Soft Bomb and Brave Words.

The Chills’ website described Phillipps’ “…single-minded determination to take quality, original NZ-sounding, melodic rock music global”.

While this story is developing, it has been reported by the The Otago Daily Times that Phillipps had recently been admitted to a Dunedin Hospital with liver problems.