Music fans, particularly those of alt-rock dance band EMF, are mourning the loss of the group’s keyboardist Derry Brownson.
The musician passed away at age 55, following an earlier announcement that he’d been undergone surgery after being diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor.
A Sad Farewell
The band announced Brownson’s passing in an Instagram post on Friday, August 14.
“Late last night we started to hear the news that we have lost our Brother In Arms Derran Brownson,” EMF’s post stated.
“We are devastated, the only solace we can find is that we are eternally grateful Derry was able to join us on stage a couple times just a few short months back,” the post continued.
“Nothing will ever be the same again without our band mate and friend, fly high brother Derry. 💔,” the band’s post concluded.
A Dire Diagnosis
In July 2025, Brownson told the BBC that he’d been diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor, and had been undergoing treatment.
That same month, he and his bandmates returned to their hometown — Cinderford, England — to headline Cinderfest, an experience that Brownson found to be “very, very special.”
“It was really a lovely moment, just the circularity of that, all the years later to be back in Cinderford,” he added.
“That was a wonderful, wonderful moment before Derry got very ill and, you know, he played that show, he played a handful more shows,” EMF guitarist Ian Dench recalled when speaking with BBC.
“I can’t think of anyone who embodied lust for life like Derry did,” added Dench. “I mean, he was beautiful inside out.”
‘Unbelievable’
EMF burst on the scene in the late 1990s, with their hit single “Unbelievable” taking them to No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard charts.
Recalling how the band first came togeher, singer James Atkin was quick to credit the band’s success to Dench, who also wrote “Unbelievable.”
“Ian [Dench, guitarist] was the genius behind ‘Unbelievable,'” Atkin told the Guardian in 2022. “I just sang and looked pretty. Derry [Brownson], Zac [Foley, bass] and I had the idea for EMF, but we didn’t have much direction.”
Once Dench became involved, the band’s fame grew quickly; within six months of forming, EMF had a record deal and, soon after, the debut single “Unbelievable.”
An Enduring Favorite
While “Unbelievable” quickly rose up the charts in the U.K., it took awhile to break in America.
Speaking with BBC, Brownson recalled being hugely successful in Britain, while the song hovered at No. 176 in the U.S. — recalling that “in our world, 176 was nothing.”
However, it was during the band’s six-week tour of the U.S. that “Unbelievable” rocketed to No. 1.
According to Atkin — who revealed that the band’s name is an acronym for Epsom Mad Funkers — “Unbelievable” had been the gift that kept on giving.
“‘Unbelievable’ is 30 years old, but it certainly hasn’t gone away,” Atkin told the Guardian, recalling his shocked reaction when she saw the song covered on “The Voice.”
“The judges tried on ‘The Voice’ — I nearly choked on my cup of tea when I saw will.i.am trying to do my rap.”
