George Smaragdis, the influential electronic music producer known to fans around the world as Starcadian, passed away last week following a fatal biking accident in Manhattan.<\/p>\n
According to the New York Police Department, Smaragdis,\u00a044,\u00a0was riding his e-bike on Broome Street around 10am when he slammed into the door of a parked Mercedes van that the driver had opened. The impact sent Smaragdis careening toward the street and into the path of a delivery truck, which ran over and crushed him.<\/p>\n
The artist sustained severe head trauma and was ultimately pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital. The drivers of both vehicles remained at the scene and no arrests have been made at the time of this writing, although authorities are investigating the incident and the possibility of criminal charges.<\/p>\n
Smaragdis was celebrated globally as Starcadian, a masked figure whose spellbinding, sci-fi-inspired music blurred the lines between fantasy and futurism.\u00a0In an eerie Instagram post shared in January 2025, he wrote: “Hi I’m alive and working very hard on the best album I’ve ever made, I can\u2019t wait to play it for you.”<\/p>\n