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Prodigy music biography continued...

behind the group's name. Howlett (composer/keyboards) soon picked up Maxim (MC/vocals), Keith Flint (dancer/vocalist) and Leeroy Thornhill (dancer/very occasional live keyboards) from the growing British rave scene, and the trio became Prodigy. Howlett's early solo recordings earned the group a record contract, and their first breakout hit was the 1991 single, "Charly," which sampled a children's public service announcement. The tune hit number one on the British dance charts, then crossed over to the pop charts, peaking at number three. Prodigy continued to pump out singles that continued to allure dance fans with their violent, rapidly changing beats, and soon amassed enough output to release a debut album, The Prodigy Experience. The album featured many of the band's club hits, as well as the memorable "Weather Experience." After continuing to tour and occasionally cutting a single, Prodigy returned to the studio to generate what became Music For The Jilted Generation. Released in the summer of 1994, the album entered the sales charts at Number One, and within two months had sold more than their debut had in two years. But Prodigy's biggest success would come in 1996, when they broke into the American market with the single, "Firestarter," a dance track with a rock edge that established Prodigy as the leader of electronic dance music in America and around the world. Prodigy, in fact, was so famous that they turned down collaborative efforts with Madonna and U2.



Showing that they were no fluke, Prodigy's third album, Fat of the Land, made its debut at number one of the Billboard chart. But it received an intensely negative critical reaction, particularly on the single "Smack That Bitch Up," which was considered misogynistic. The band came back nevertheless with a 2004's charting follow-up, Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned and 2009's Invaders Must Die, which features drum work from Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters). Efforts like this will always endear legions of Prodigy fans to the cause of making electronic accessible to all.