Dutch singer and artist, self confessed ‘heart and soul, rock and roll junkie‘ (real audio) Herman Brood took his own life today, jumping off the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam. He had a note on him that said: ‘Party on, we might meet again.’ He was 54 years old.

Brood met U2 in 1997, when the band were in Holland to play at the MTV awards in the Ahoy in Rotterdam. He entertained them in Cafe Dante in Amsterdam and showed Bono his paintings. Bono then sang a chorus of Brel’s ‘Port of Amsterdam’ at the awards, to celebrate Brood’s birthday. They shared a mutual friend in photographer Anton Corbijn.

In recent years, Brood had kicked his drug habit on doctor’s advice, but his body didn’t take well to the absence of stimulants after 30 years of continual use. He had talked about suicide with his friend Bart Chabot a year ago, and said it would either be the Hilton or the Okura hotel – both close to his Amsterdam residence.

Listen to one of his best tunes: Saturday Night. His most recent release was the album ‘Ciao Monkey’.