Erasure star Vince Clarke’s wife Tracey Hurley Martin dies after two-year battle with stomach cancer – as bandmate Andy Bell pays heartfelt tribute
- Tracy Hurley Martin, who was married to the Erasure star, died earlier this week
The wife of Erasure star Vince Clarke has died after a two-year battle with cancer.
Tracy Hurley Martin, who lived in New York with the 63-year-old British synth-pop star – who rose to fame with Yazoo, Erasure and Depeche Mode, had been battling stomach cancer for several years.
Taking to social media, Clarke’s bandmate Andy Bell posted an emotional tribute to Martin, writing: ‘There are no words. My heart, my soul and all my love goes to Vincent and Oscar, Tonya, Michael and Isabelle and all of Tracy’s family and friends.”
The singer added, “May God bless our precious Tracy.”
Vince Clarke with his wife Tracy Hurley Martin, who died of cancer. The British musician and Martin married in 2004
Clarke is behind some of Britain’s biggest bands, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and Yazoo, who sold 30 million records in four decades. In November he released his debut solo album Mute, written during lockdown.
Clarke grew up in South Woodford, Essex, but has spent the past twenty years sharing his life with Martin and their musical son Oscar in New York – in a TriBeCa apartment.
Born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, Martin was known for her creative endeavors as a producer, director and co-founder of the nonprofit Morbid Anatomy Museum in Brooklyn, which closed in 2016.
Martin, a producer, co-founded the Morbid Anatomy Museum in New York; the couple has a son Oscar and shared a home in TriBeCa
Erasure frontman Andy Bell shared a touching tribute to Clarke’s wife on social media last night
Vince Clarke, right, with Andy Bell; The two men formed Erasure in the mid-1980s and still perform the band’s hits
Clarke on stage with Erasure in 2021, the musician has been behind some of Britain’s biggest bands including Depeche Mode, Erasure and Yazoo
Clark pictured with Alison Moyet at Yazoo in 1982; Clarke became known for writing synth-pop hits after founding Depeche Mode in 1980; He later formed Erasure with Andy Bell in 1985
The couple were pictured at the Ivor Novello Awards in London in 2009
In an honest post in February 2022, Martin revealed to her followers that she had undergone a full hysterectomy and had been diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer.
She wrote: ‘I am grateful not only for the treatment, but also for the 24-hour care and unwavering support that my husband and sister have provided me. I burst into tears writing how much I love them both.
She added: ‘I have reached a depth of love for all of you that I had no idea existed.”
Dozens of Depeche Mode and Erasure fans reacted to Andy Bell’s tribute to Clarke’s wife, describing the news as ‘heartbreaking’.