Madonna has paid tribute to William Orbit, the British producer who shaped her 1998 album Ray of Light, following the announcement of his death at the age of 69.

Orbit died at home on 23 July, according to a statement from his family and friends released "with profound sadness" and reported on 7 August by the BBC. No cause of death was given. The news was made public on Friday, 8 August, with outlets including Rolling Stone and the ABC confirming the details.

Later that same day, Madonna posted a tribute on her official Instagram account as a Reel. "Rest in Peace, William Orbit," she wrote. She described him as "the creative genius behind countless extraordinary sounds, including the groundbreaking Ray of Light" (Instagram). The post had drawn roughly 60,000 likes and more than 3,100 comments at the time of retrieval.

In her message, Madonna recalled the creative bond they shared. "You pressed a magic button inside of me and I fell into a galaxy of unrealized dreams," she wrote. "Your music gave me a magic carpet to fly on and I visited many places" (Facebook). She called him, in many ways, her "Ray of Light," alongside her daughter Lola, who was born around the same period. The tribute closed: "Goodbye Billy Bubbles. I was so lucky to have known you and fallen down the rabbit hole with you."

Alongside the written tribute, Madonna posted a video of herself and Orbit accepting the Best Pop Album award at the 1999 Grammys for Ray of Light.

Orbit's career spanned decades and crossed genres. Before producing Ray of Light, he remixed earlier Madonna singles including "Justify My Love" and "Erotica." He went on to collaborate with her on the albums Music (2000) and MDNA (2012). Beyond Madonna, Orbit worked with Blur, All Saints and Pink, among others, earning a reputation as one of the most versatile producers in British pop.

His death closes a chapter on a partnership that helped redefine what a mainstream pop record could sound like at the turn of the millennium. For Madonna, the loss was clearly personal as much as professional. The nickname she used — Billy Bubbles — suggested a closeness that went well beyond the studio.