The Prodigy have celebrated their classic single ‘Firestarter’ turning 30, and recalled how its success “exploded from nowhere”.
Released back in March 1996, the track remains the band’s biggest and marked a pivotal moment in bringing underground rave culture to the masses. It was their first hit to feature the late Keith Flint on vocals – having previously been predominantly a dancer – and was the first song of theirs to reach Number One on the UK Singles Chart – where it held onto the top spot for three weeks.
Now, bandmates Liam Howlett and Maxim have looked back at the success of the single three decades on, and recalled how they saw it “explode” out of nowhere.
“Firestarter is 30-years-pld,” they began, sharing a snippet of the iconic black-and-white music video on Instagram. “I can remember so clearly every moment writing this tune. Keef coming into the studio and hearing it for the first time, jumping off the walls and then grabbing the mic to record his first ever vocal.”
“It was totally spontaneous the way it happened, same with the video,” they added, making a nod to the backlash they received at first due to the intense aesthetic they captured. “People refused to play it on the radio and support it at first [but] it just found its own way, own momentum, then exploded from nowhere. So yeah, we are proud of this tune and proud of it for Keef.”
The track featured samples of The Breeders, Art of Noise, and Ten City, and the legendary music video was filmed in the abandoned Aldwych Underground station. It was directed by Walter Stern, and famously broke records for the highest number of complaints received by Top Of The Pops when it aired back in March 1996 – with 102 people writing in to criticise the band for Flint’s manic performance, signature “devil-horn” hair style, and the video’s unsettling aesthetic.
NME was on set as The Prodigy filmed the music video back in 1996, where the band spoke to us about putting the track together.
“I recorded it as an instrumental,” Howlett told us. “And as usual, all of the others came round to have a listen. Keith happened to be the first, and I said to him, ‘We need one more element’. Now I’d have been happy with a good sample, but Keith said, ‘I’d really like to try some vocals on that’. And I’m like, ‘Whaaaaaaat?!”
Flint chimed in: “We had no idea how it was gonna sound, because the only singing Liam [had] ever heard from us [was] me and Leeroy singing U2 songs on the way home. We always harmonise on ‘One,’ and instead of lighters, we put up our mobile phones and wave ‘em in the air!”
They also spoke about putting Flint in the spotlight for the first time. “People say Keith looks insane these days,” said Howlett. “But he’s been insane for five years! He was insane the day I met him dancing in The Barn in Braintree. People only started to notice when he dyed his hair. And obviously the press and the fans are going to latch onto him now. But it was always going to be like that. It’s a natural progression.”
Flint died in 2019 after taking his own life, and was remembered in an NME tribute as creating one of the “most enduring images of 1990s pop culture, if not of the 1990s full stop”. There was also a push by fans to get ‘Firestarter’ back to the top of the charts after his death, and although it didn’t reach the top spot, it did see a huge spike in interest and re-enter the Top 100 on the singles chart.
In 2023, Liam Howlett spoke to NME about the 25th anniversary of their album ‘The Fat Of The Land’ – which featured ‘Firestarter’, as well as huge hits ‘Breathe’ and ‘Smack My Bitch Up’ – and said that while they were confident that the album captured something new, they were unaware of what a big cultural impact it would have.
“We were touring a lot so we were always busy, bizniz as usual, just writing the album,” he said. “I knew ‘Firestarter’ was something that people hadn’t heard before for sure, also ‘Breathe’. We were just on fire really and properly on the attack.”
He also spoke about what it felt like to be so different from the huge Britpop scene at the time, adding: “It fuelled us, we thrived off it. We always loved to be the underdogs because we knew we could destroy any band on stage.”
In 2024, Howlett spoke to NME again about the decision to return to playing live without Flint, saying: “After losing Keith we couldn’t even think or talk about the band. I think it was two years after his death that me and Maxim started bringing it up. ‘Could we play live again? Did we even want to? Why? How?’ All that shit”.
“We realised the only possible real way to know how we would feel was to do it: get back on stage and do a bunch of gigs,” he added. “It was so hard to walk onto that stage without our brother, but we really felt the crowd with us. Those gigs were highly emotionally-charged but we came out the other end with our answer”.
Next month, Howlett and Maxim will kick off their UK and Ireland arena dates – a 12-date tour that sold out in record time and includes two dates at London’s Wembley Arena. They will then be playing some massive ‘Warrior’s Dance’ outdoor gigs in the summer, which are some of their biggest shows since Flint’s death. Visit here for any remaining tickets.
Fans can expect The Prodigy to bring even more energy this time around, Howlett revealed to NME in November, discussing the upcoming dates and also hinting at some new “fuckin’ evil rave” music on the way.
“Every time we go out for a new tour or big shows like this, we spend a lot of time talking about what is possible – how can we make it better,” he said. “We always try to make sure things are different and moving forward, but always delivering the punch, which it will.”
The Prodigy’s 2026 UK and Ireland tour dates are:
APRIL
15 – GLASGOW OVO Hydro
16 – MANCHESTER Co-op Live
18 – BIRMINGHAM Utilita Arena
19 – CARDIFF Utilita Arena
21 – BOURNEMOUTH BIC
22 – LEEDS first direct Arena
24 – LONDON OVO Arena Wembley
25 – LONDON OVO Arena Wembley
27 – BELFAST SSE Arena Belfast
28 – DUBLIN 3Arena
MAY
01 – NOTTINGHAM Motorpoint Arena
02 – NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Utilita Arena
AUGUST
20 – DUBLIN IMMA
22 – MILTON KEYNES National Bowl
29 – EDINBURGH Royal Highland Showgrounds
30 – MANCHESTER Wythenshawe Park