Feeder drummer Jon Lee found hanged

The drummer with the British rock band Feeder has been found dead in Florida after apparently committing suicide, Miami police said yesterday.

Jon Lee, 33, was found at his home in Miami where he lived with his wife, Tatiana Englehart, a Brazilian model, and his young son, Cameron. Unconfirmed reports said the drummer had hanged himself.

"It is with the deepest regret that we must announce the tragic and premature death of Feeder drummer Jon Lee," said a statement placed on the band's official website. "Jon took his own life on Monday, 7 January at his home in Florida.

"At this dreadfully difficult time, we would ask that Jon's family and friends are afforded the utmost privacy."

Lee, a former county sprinter who was originally from Newport, south Wales, formed Feeder in 1992 with the guitarist and sound engineer Grant Nicholas, who had been playing with a Cardiff band when the pair met. The duo left for London where they recruited a Japanese bass player, Taka Hirose, in 1995.

In a separate statement on the website, which included a picture of Lee at his drum set, the two other band members said yesterday: "Jon boy, we will miss you more than melody – friends always." It was signed: "Grant and Taka. Proper."

The band had enjoyed four Top 20 singles in the UK, including "Buck Rogers" and "Just a Day", which was released last month. They toured extensively in Britain and the United States and released their debut album, Polythene, in May 1997.

Their 1999 album, Yesterday Went Too Soon, entered the charts at number seven. Echo Park, the follow-up album, which was released last year, spawned their biggest hit, the anthem "Buck Rogers", which reached number five.

Last year was considered to have been the band's most successful by far. In addition to the success of Echo Park and "Buck Rogers", the band performed two sell-out tours, culminating in celebratory shows at the London Astoria.

No one from the Miami police force was immediately available for comment.

Veronica Lamar, a spokeswoman for the Miami Medical Examiner's Office, said police had revealed that Lee and his wife had been having marital problems.

"He called his wife and asked her to come home and when she arrived she found him hanging in the garage."