Madonna performs a surprise concert in New York City
Madonna has paid tribute to her longtime friend and acclaimed music producer William Orbit, who died last month at the age of 69.
“You pressed a magic button inside of me and I fell into a galaxy of unrealised dreams,” the pop superstar wrote on Instagram on Saturday. “Your music gave me a magic carpet to fly on and I visited many places.”
Orbit’s family announced “with profound sadness” on Friday that the Grammy-winning producer died at home on 23 July. No cause of death was given.
The British producer, whose real name was William Wainwright, helped reinvigorate Madonna’s career in 1998 with Ray of Light, an album that blended electronic dance music and ambient techno with pop and trip-hop.
William Orbit, seen here in 2012
With its genre-bending sound, Ray of Light went on to win three Grammy Awards and is still considered by many to be the Queen of Pop’s greatest record.
“I had an epiphany when I met you and started working with you,” Madonna wrote in her post, alongside a video of herself standing beside Orbit to accept a Grammy Award. It also includes clips of the music videos and work she and Orbit created together.
Madonna said Orbit inspired her to sing and write in ways she never had before, without caring if her words “made sense or not”.
“In many ways you were my Ray of Light – as was my daughter Lola who was born around this time,” the singer wrote.
Madonna on the set of her Ray of Light video
At the time she began working with Orbit, Madonna said she was beginning a new chapter, and Orbit stayed by her side with his “genius way of hearing music”.
“The studio was often church-like and I would sit in silence, waiting for your ideas to explode out of your keyboard or your guitar and then I would run with them,” she wrote. “I miss those days.”
In addition to Ray of Light, Orbit also worked with Madonna on her 2000 album Music and produced several tracks for her 2012 album work MDNA.
The London-born producer is also known for his work with English rock band Blur, American rock-pop singer Pink, and English girl group All Saints.
“You were so otherworldly. So singular,” Madonna wrote in her tribute.
The pop star said even though she worked with other producers over the years, she never forgot Orbit and “the magical time we spent together”.
“I was so lucky to have known you and fallen down the rabbit hole with you.”
