Madonna Pens An Emotional Tribute For 'Otherworldly' Producer William Orbit: 'Your Music Gave Me A Magic Carpet To Fly'

Grammy Award-winning British musician and producer William Orbit, whose real name was William Wainwright, passed away last month at age 69. He worked with Madonna, Britney Spears and other artists.

Madonna remembers William Orbit

Madonna, 67, paid a moving tribute to Orbit on her Instagram handle. "You pressed a magic button inside of me and I fell into a galaxy of unrealised dreams," the pop superstar wrote on Saturday. "Your music gave me a magic carpet to fly on and I visited many places."

"I had an epiphany when I met you and started working with you," Madonna wrote in her post, sharing a video of herself standing beside Orbit to accept a Grammy Award.

The Like a Virgin hitmaker also wrote that only Orbit "could inspire me to write a song like Drowned World or Swim," and called him "otherworldly" and "singular."

"The years passed and I moved on to make music with other people, but I have never forgotten you or the magical time we spent together.
Goodbye Billy Bubbles. I was so lucky to have known you and fallen down the rabbit hole with you," she concluded her post.

The video also includes clips of the music videos and their work.

William Orbit death reason

Orbit's family announced "with profound sadness" on Friday that the producer died on July 23. No cause of death was given.

"We are deeply saddened by his passing. He will be greatly missed by us and by so many whose lives he touched through his music, friendship and kindness. We kindly ask that the privacy of William’s family and close friends is respected during this difficult time", the statement added.

Madonna and Orbit's collaboration

The British producer helped Madonna's career in 1998 with Ray of Light, an album that blended electronic dance music with pop and trip-hop.

It was one of the most successful albums of Madonna, with multiplatinum sales and bagged three Grammys. It went on to sell more than 4 million copies in the United States alone.

Later, they collaborated for Beautiful Stranger, the soundtrack of 1999’s Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, that won a Grammy.

Madonna and Orbit also teamed up for the cover of Don McLean’s American Pie that featured in the 2000 movie The Next Best Thing, which also starred the Queen of Pop.