Formation (1977–1980) Depeche Mode's origins date to 1977, when schoolmates Vince Clarke and Andy Fletcher formed a band called "No Romance in China" with Clarke on vocals and guitar and Fletcher on bass. Fletcher would later recall, "Why am I in the band? It was accidental right from the beginning. I was actually forced to be in the band. I played the guitar and I had a bass; it was a question of them roping me in." In 1979, Clarke played guitar in an
Ultravox-influenced band, the Plan, with friends
Robert Marlow and Paul Langwith. In 1978–1979,
Martin Gore played guitar in an acoustic duo, Norman and the Worms, with school friend Phil Burdett on vocals. In 1980, Clarke and Fletcher formed a band called Composition of Sound, with Clarke on vocals/guitar and Fletcher on bass; the pair were soon joined by Gore as a third instrumentalist. Dave Gahan joined the ensemble later in 1980 after Clarke heard him perform at a local
Scout hut jam session, singing a rendition of
David Bowie's "
Heroes". With the advent of affordable synthesisers and the increasing popularity of electronic music, the group began pursuing a
synth-pop direction. The first live concert of Composition of Sound as a four-piece was on 14 June 1980 at Nicholas School, Basildon, England, UK. There is a plaque commemorating the gig at the
James Hornsby School in Basildon, where Gore and Fletcher were pupils. Gahan's and Gore's favourite artists included
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Sparks,
Cabaret Voltaire,
Talking Heads and
Iggy Pop. Gahan's onstage persona was influenced by
Dave Vanian, frontman of
the Damned. Gahan has also later credited David Bowie,
James Brown,
Elvis Presley and
Prince as influences on his performance style. Composition of Sound would become embarrassed about their band name and started thinking of changing it. There were several potential variants, including the name "Musical Moments" that was suggested by Vince Clarke as both a band name and the name of their first album. Starting at their concert on 24 September 1980 at Bridge House, the band changed their name to Depeche Mode, chosen by Dave Gahan. When explaining the choice for the new name, which was taken from a mistranslation of the name of French fashion magazine
Dépêche Mode, Gore said, "It means 'hurried fashion' or 'fashion dispatch'. I like the sound of that." The more accurate translation of the magazine's name (and therefore the band's name) is "Fashion News" or "Fashion Update".
Speak & Spell and Clarke's departure (1980–1981) The band made their recording debut in late 1980 for the
Some Bizzare Album (released in 1981) with the song "Photographic", later re-recorded for their debut album
Speak & Spell. The band made a
demo tape but, instead of mailing the tape to record labels, they would go in and personally deliver it. They would demand the labels play it; according to Dave Gahan, "most of them would tell us to fuck off. They'd say 'leave the tape with us' and we'd say 'it's our only one'. Then we'd say goodbye and go somewhere else." According to Gahan, prior to securing their record contract, they were receiving offers from all the major labels.
Phonogram offered them "money you could never have imagined and all sorts of crazy things like clothes allowances". the band was approached by Daniel Miller, an
electronic producer and founder of
Mute Records, who was interested in their recording a single for his burgeoning label. The result of this verbal contract was their first single, "
Dreaming of Me", recorded in December 1980 and released in February 1981. It reached number 57 in the UK charts. Encouraged by this, the band recorded their second single, "
New Life", which climbed to number 11 in the UK charts and got them an appearance on
Top of the Pops. The band went to London by train, carrying their synthesisers all the way to the
BBC studios. The band's next single was "
Just Can't Get Enough". The
synth-pop single became the band's first UK top ten hit. The video is the only one to feature Vince Clarke. Depeche Mode's debut album,
Speak & Spell, was released in October 1981 and peaked at number ten on the UK album charts. while
Rolling Stone was more critical, calling the album "
PG-rated fluff". Clarke began to voice his discomfort at the direction the band was taking, saying "there was never enough time to do anything. Not with all the interviews and photo sessions". Clarke also said he was sick of touring, which Gahan said years later was "bullshit to be quite honest". The song went on to become a UK top three hit for Yazoo. Gore, who had written "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and the instrumental "Big Muff" for
Speak & Spell, became the band's main composer and lyricist.
A Broken Frame and Wilder joining (1981–1982) In late 1981, the band placed an anonymous ad in
Melody Maker looking for another musician: "Name band, synthesise, must be under twenty-one." By sampling the noises of everyday objects, the band created an eclectic,
industrial-influenced sound, with similarities to groups such as the
Art of Noise and
Einstürzende Neubauten (the latter becoming Mute labelmates in 1983). "
Everything Counts" rose to number six in the UK, also reaching the top 30 in Ireland, South Africa, Switzerland, Sweden and West Germany. The song became a hit, reaching No. 2 in Ireland and Poland, No. 4 in the UK and Switzerland, and No. 1 in West Germany – the first time a DM single topped a country's singles chart – where it was used as the theme to West German TV's coverage of the
1984 Olympics. Beyond this European success, the song also reached No. 13 on the US charts in mid-1985, the first appearance of a DM single on the
Billboard Hot 100, and was a Top 20 hit in Canada. "People Are People" became an anthem for the LGBT community, regularly played at gay establishments and
gay pride festivals in the late 1980s.
Sire, the band's North American record label, released a compilation of
the same name which included tracks from
A Broken Frame and
Construction Time Again as well as several
B-sides. On the American tour, the band was, according to Gore, "shocked by the way the fans were turning up in droves at the concerts". In contrast to the political and environmental subjects addressed on the previous album, the songs on
Some Great Reward were mostly concerned with more personal themes such as sexual politics ("
Master and Servant"), adulterous relationships ("Lie to Me"), and arbitrary divine justice ("
Blasphemous Rumours"). Also included was the first Martin Gore ballad, "
Somebody"—such songs would become a feature of all following albums. "Somebody" was released as a double A-side with "Blasphemous Rumours", and was the first single with Gore on lead vocal.
Some Great Reward became the first Depeche Mode album to enter the US album charts, and made the Top 10 in several European countries.
The World We Live In and Live in Hamburg was the band's first video release, almost an entire concert from their 1984 Some Great Reward Tour.
Black Celebration (1985–1986) In July 1985, the band played their first-ever concerts behind the
Iron Curtain, in
Budapest and
Warsaw. In October 1985, Mute released a compilation,
The Singles 81→85 (
Catching Up with Depeche Mode in the US), which included the two new non-album hit singles "
Shake the Disease" and "
It's Called a Heart", with the US version also including their B-sides ("Fly on the Windscreen", the B-side of "It's Called a Heart", would also be included on the next studio album
Black Celebration). In the United States, the band's music appealed primarily to an
alternative audience who were disenchanted with the predominance of "soft rock and 'disco hell'" on the radio. This view of the band was in sharp contrast to how the band was perceived in Europe, despite the increasingly dark and serious tone in their songs. In Germany, France, and other European countries, Depeche Mode were considered teen idols and regularly featured in European teen magazines, becoming one of the most famous synth-pop bands in the mid-'80s. Depeche Mode's musical style shifted slightly again in 1986 with the release of their fifteenth single, "
Stripped", and its accompanying album
Black Celebration. Retaining their often imaginative sampling and beginning to move away from the "industrial pop" sound that had characterised their previous two LPs, the band introduced an ominous, highly atmospheric and textured sound. Gore's lyrics also took on a darker tone and became more pessimistic. The music video for "
A Question of Time" was the first to be directed by
Anton Corbijn, beginning a working relationship that continues to the present. Corbijn has directed 22 of the band's videos. He has also filmed some of their live performances and designed stage sets, as well as most covers for albums and singles starting from
Violator.
Music for the Masses (1987–1989) For 1987's
Music for the Masses, the band's sound and working methods continued to develop. It was the first time they worked with a producer not related to Mute Records. Dave Bascombe was called to assist with the recording sessions; although, according to Alan Wilder, Bascombe's role ended up being more that of engineer. In making the album, the band largely eschewed
sampling in favour of
synthesiser experimentation. While chart performance of the singles "
Strangelove", "
Never Let Me Down Again" and "
Behind the Wheel" proved to be disappointing in the UK, they performed well in countries such as Canada, Brazil, West Germany, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland, often reaching the top 10.
Record Mirror described
Music for the Masses as "the most accomplished and sexy Mode album to date". The album also reached No. 35 on the US
Billboard 200 chart. The Music for the Masses Tour began 22 October 1987. On 7 March 1988, with no previous announcement that they would be the headlining act, Depeche Mode played in the
Werner-Seelenbinder-Halle, East Berlin, becoming one of the few Western groups to perform in
East Germany. They also performed concerts in Budapest and Prague in 1988. The world tour ended on 18 June 1988 with a concert at the
Pasadena Rose Bowl. Paid attendance of 60,453 was the highest in eight years for the venue. Its massive success marked a breakthrough for the band in the United States.. The event was documented in
101, a concert film by
D. A. Pennebaker and its accompanying soundtrack album. The film is notable for its portrayal of fan interaction. Alan Wilder came up with the title, noting that it was the 101st and final performance of the tour. On 7 September 1988, Depeche Mode performed "Strangelove" at the
1988 MTV Video Music Awards at the
Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.
Violator (1989–1990) In mid-1989, the band began recording in
Milan with producer
Flood and engineer
François Kevorkian. The initial result of this session was the single "
Personal Jesus". Prior to its release, a marketing campaign was launched with advertisements placed in the
personals columns of UK regional newspapers with the words "Your own personal Jesus." Later, the ads included a phone number one could dial to hear the song. The resulting furore helped propel the single to number 13 on the UK charts, becoming one of their biggest sellers to date. In the United States, it was their first gold single and their first Top 40 hit since "People Are People", eventually becoming the biggest-selling 12-inch single in
Warner Records' history up to that point. Released in February 1990, "
Enjoy the Silence" reached number six in the UK (the first Top 10 hit in that country since "Master And Servant"). A few months later it reached number eight in the US and earned the band a second gold record, and it won Best British Single at the 1991
Brit Awards. To promote their new album,
Violator, the band held an in-store autograph signing at Wherehouse Entertainment in Los Angeles. The event attracted approximately 20,000 fans and turned into a near riot. Some attendees were injured while being pressed against the store's glass by the crowd. As an apology to those injured, the band released a limited edition cassette tape to fans in Los Angeles, distributed through radio station
KROQ (the sponsor of the Wherehouse event).
Violator was the first Depeche Mode album to enter the Top 10 of the
Billboard 200, reaching Number 7 and staying 74 weeks in the chart. It was
certified triple platinum in America. Two more singles from the album—"
Policy of Truth" and "
World in My Eyes"—were hits in the UK, with the former also charting in the US. The
World Violation Tour saw the band play several stadium shows in the US. 42,000 tickets were sold within four hours for a show at
Giants Stadium, and 48,000 tickets were sold within half-an-hour of going on sale for a show at
Dodger Stadium. An estimated 1.2 million fans saw this tour worldwide. In 1993,
Songs of Faith and Devotion, again with
Flood producing, saw them experimenting with arrangements based as much on heavily distorted electric guitars and live drums (played by Alan Wilder, whose debut as a studio drummer had come on the
Violator track "Clean") as on synthesisers. Live
strings,
uilleann pipes and female
gospel vocals were other new additions to the band's sound. The album debuted at number one in both the UK and the US, only the sixth British act to achieve such a distinction to date. The first single from the album was the grunge-influenced "
I Feel You". The gospel influences are most noticeable on the album's third single, "
Condemnation". Interviews given by the band during this period tended to be conducted separately, unlike earlier albums, where the band was interviewed as a group. The band's second live album,
Songs of Faith and Devotion Live, was released in December 1993. The tour continued into 1994 with the Exotic leg, which began in February 1994 in South Africa, and ended in April in Mexico. The final leg of the tour, called the and US Summer '94 Tour, consisting of more North American dates, followed shortly thereafter and ran until July. As a whole, the Devotional Tour is to date the longest and most geographically diverse Depeche Mode tour, spanning fourteen months and 159 individual performances.
Q magazine described the 1993 Devotional Tour as "The Most Debauched Rock 'n' Roll Tour Ever". According to
The Independent, the "smack-blasted" Gahan "required cortisone shots just to perform, borderline alcoholic Gore suffered two stress-induced seizures, and Andrew Fletcher's deepening depression resulted, in the summer of 1994, in a full nervous breakdown." During the performance in
New Orleans,
Louisiana, Gahan suffered a heart attack brought on by drug use and had to be ushered out of the
Lakefront Arena in an ambulance. In
Denver,
Colorado, local police arrested Gore and fined him $50 for disturbing the peace when he held a loud party in his hotel room. Fletcher declined to participate in the second half of the
Exotic Tour due to mental instability; he was replaced on stage by
Daryl Bamonte, who had worked with the band as a personal assistant since the beginning of their career in 1980. In June 1995, Alan Wilder announced that he was leaving Depeche Mode, explaining: Wilder continued to work on his personal project
Recoil, releasing a fourth album (
Unsound Methods) in 1997.
Ultra (1995–1998) Despite Gahan's increasingly severe personal problems, Gore tried repeatedly during 1995 and 1996 to get the band recording again. However, Gahan would rarely turn up to scheduled sessions, and when he did, it would take weeks to get any vocals recorded; one six-week session at
Electric Lady in New York produced just one usable vocal (for "Sister of Night"), and even that was pieced together from multiple takes. Gore was forced to contemplate breaking the band up and considered releasing the songs he had written as a solo album. In mid-1996, after his near-fatal overdose in which his heart stopped beating for two minutes, Gahan entered a court-ordered
drug rehabilitation program to battle his addiction to cocaine and heroin. With Gahan out of rehab in 1996, Depeche Mode held recording sessions with producer
Tim Simenon. Preceded by two singles, "
Barrel of a Gun" and "
It's No Good", the album
Ultra was released in April 1997. The album debuted at No. 1 in the UK as well as Germany, and No. 5 in the US. The band did not tour in support of the album, with Fletcher quoted as saying: "We're not fit enough. Dave's only eight months into his sobriety, and our bodies are telling us to spend time with our families." As part of the promotion for the release of the album, they did perform two short concerts in London and Los Angeles, promoted as "Ultra Parties".
Ultra spawned two further singles, "
Home" and "
Useless". A second singles compilation,
The Singles 86>98, was released in 1998, preceded by the new single "
Only When I Lose Myself". In April 1998, Depeche Mode held a press conference at the Hyatt Hotel in
Cologne to announce the Singles Tour. The tour was the first to feature two backing musicians in place of Wilder—Austrian drummer Christian Eigner and British keyboardist
Peter Gordeno.
Exciter (1999–2004) In 2001, Depeche Mode released
Exciter, produced by
Mark Bell (of
techno group
LFO). Bell introduced a minimalist, digital sound to much of the album, influenced by
IDM and
glitch. "
Dream On", "
I Feel Loved", "
Freelove" and "
Goodnight Lovers" were released as singles in 2001 and 2002. Critical response to the album was mixed, with reasonably positive reviews from some magazines (
NME,
Rolling Stone and
LA Weekly), while others (including
Q magazine,
PopMatters and
Pitchfork) derided it as sounding underproduced, dull and lacking in luster. In March 2001, Depeche Mode held a press conference at the Valentino Hotel in
Hamburg to announce the Exciter Tour. The tour featured 84 performances for more than 1.5 million fans in 24 countries. The concerts held in Paris at the
Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy were filmed and later released in May 2002 as a live DVD entitled
One Night in Paris. In October 2002 the band won the first-ever
Q magazine "Innovation Award". In 2003, Gahan released his first solo album,
Paper Monsters, and toured to promote the record. Also released in 2003 was Gore's second solo album
Counterfeit². Fletcher founded his own record label, Toast Hawaii, specialising in promoting electronic music. A new remix compilation album,
Remixes 81–04, was released in 2004, featuring new and unreleased promo mixes of the band's singles from 1981 to 2004. A new version of "Enjoy the Silence", remixed by
Mike Shinoda of
Linkin Park, "
Enjoy the Silence 04", was released as a single and reached No. 7 on the UK charts.
Playing the Angel (2005–2007) concert in
Bremen, June 2006 In October 2005, Depeche Mode released their 11th studio album
Playing the Angel. Produced by
Ben Hillier, the album peaked at No. 1 in 18 countries and featured the hit single "
Precious". This is their first album to feature lyrics written by Gahan and, consequently, the first album since 1984's
Some Great Reward featuring songs not written by Gore. "
Suffer Well" was the first ever post-Clarke Depeche Mode single not to be written by Gore (lyrics by Gahan, music by Philpott/Eigner). The final single from the album was "
John the Revelator", an up-tempo electronic track with a running religious theme, accompanied by "Lilian", a lush track that was a hit in many clubs all over the world. To promote
Playing the Angel, the band launched
Touring the Angel, a concert tour of Europe and North America that began in November 2005 and ran for nine months. During the last two legs of the tour Depeche Mode headlined a number of festivals including the
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the
O2 Wireless Festival. In total, the band played to more than 2.8 million people across 31 countries and the tour was one of the highest grossing and critically acclaimed tours of 2005/2006. Two shows at
Milan's
Fila Forum were filmed and edited into a concert film, released on DVD as
Touring the Angel: Live in Milan. A "best-of" compilation was released in November 2006, entitled
The Best of Depeche Mode Volume 1 featuring a new single "
Martyr", an outtake from the
Playing the Angel sessions. Later that month Depeche Mode received the
MTV Europe Music Award in the Best Group category. In December 2006,
iTunes released
The Complete Depeche Mode as its fourth ever digital box-set. In August 2007, during promotion for Gahan's second solo album,
Hourglass, it was announced that Depeche Mode were heading back in studio in early 2008 to work on a new album.
Sounds of the Universe (2008–2011) In May 2008, Depeche Mode returned to the studio with producer
Ben Hillier to work on some songs that Martin Gore had demoed at his home studio in
Santa Barbara, California. Later that year it was announced that they were splitting from their long-term US label, Warner Music, and signing with
EMI Music worldwide. The album was created in four sessions, two in New York and two in Santa Barbara. A total of 22 songs were recorded, with the standard album being 13 songs in length while many of the others were released in subsequent deluxe editions. In 2009, Depeche Mode allowed their likeness to be used in
Valve's
Left 4 Dead 2. The character Rochelle wears a pink T-shirt with an image from the "Touring the Angels" tour on the front. concert at London's O2 Arena, December 2009 On 15 January 2009, the official Depeche Mode website announced that the band's twelfth studio album would be called
Sounds of the Universe. The album was released on 14 April 2009, also made available through an iTunes Pass, where the buyer received individual tracks in the weeks leading up to the official release date. Fletcher said the idea for their iTunes Pass was a combination of the band's and iTunes': "I think the digital and record companies are starting to get their act together. They were very lazy in the first 10 years when downloads came in. Now they're collaborating more and coming up with interesting ideas for fans to buy products." The album went to number one in 21 countries. Critical response was generally positive and it was nominated for a Grammy in the
Best Alternative Album category. "
Wrong" was the first single from the album, released digitally in February 2009. Subsequent singles were "
Peace" and the double A-side "
Fragile Tension / Hole to Feed". In addition, "Perfect" was released as a promotional-only (non-commercial) single in the United States. On 23 April 2009, Depeche Mode performed for the television program
Jimmy Kimmel Live! at the
famed corner of
Hollywood Boulevard and
Vine Street, drawing more than 12,000 fans, which was the largest audience the program had seen since its 2003 premiere, with a performance by
Coldplay. In May 2009, the band embarked on a concert tour in support of the album, called
Tour of the Universe; it had been announced at a press conference in October 2008 at the
Olympiastadion in Berlin. There was a warm up show in
Luxembourg and it officially started on 10 May 2009 in
Tel Aviv. The first leg of the tour was disrupted when Dave Gahan was struck down with
gastroenteritis. During treatment, doctors found and removed a low-grade tumour from the singer's bladder. Gahan's illness caused 16 concerts to be cancelled, but several of the shows were rescheduled for 2010. The band headlined the
Lollapalooza festival during the North American leg of the tour. The tour also took the band back to South America for the first time since 1994's
Exotic Tour. During the final European leg, the band played a show at London's
Royal Albert Hall in aid of the
Teenage Cancer Trust, where former member Alan Wilder joined Martin Gore on stage for a performance of "
Somebody". In total the band played to more than 2.7 million people across 32 countries and the tour was one of the most profitable in America in 2009. The concerts held at
Palau Sant Jordi,
Barcelona, Spain were filmed and later released on DVD and
Blu-ray release entitled
Tour of the Universe: Barcelona 20/21.11.09. In March 2010, Depeche Mode won the award for "Best International Group – Rock / Pop" at the
Echo Awards in Germany. On 6 June 2011, as the final commitment to their contract with EMI, the band released a
remix compilation album, entitled
Remixes 2: 81–11 that features remixes by former members
Vince Clarke and
Alan Wilder. Other remixers involved with the project were
Nick Rhodes of
Duran Duran,
Röyksopp, Karlsson & Winnberg of
Miike Snow,
Eric Prydz,
Clark and more. A new remix of "Personal Jesus" by
Stargate, entitled "
Personal Jesus 2011", was released as a single on 30 May 2011, in support of the compilation. Also in 2011, Depeche Mode contributed their cover of the
U2 song "
So Cruel" to the tribute album
AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered, honouring the 20th anniversary of the album
Achtung Baby. The compilation CD was released with the December 2011 issue of
Q.
Delta Machine (2012–2014) '' In October 2012 during a press conference in Paris, Dave Gahan, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher announced plans for a new album and a 2013 worldwide tour starting from
Tel Aviv and continuing in Europe and North America. Martin Gore revealed that
Flood mixed the album, marking the producer's first studio collaboration with the band since 1993's
Songs of Faith and Devotion. In December 2012, the band officially announced signing a worldwide deal with
Columbia Records and releasing a new album in March 2013. On 24 January 2013, it was confirmed that the album was titled
Delta Machine. "
Heaven", the debut single from
Delta Machine was released commercially on Friday 1 February 2013 (although not in the UK). The release date in the UK was pushed back to 18 March 2013 (17 March 2013 on iTunes). The physical release still bore the Mute Records logo, even though the band have now severed ties with their long-standing label. Fletcher mentioned in an interview this was due to their "devotion" to the label and with the band's insistence.
Delta Machine spawned two further singles, "
Soothe My Soul" on 6 May and "
Should Be Higher" on 11 October. Though neither performed well in the UK charts they did perform moderately in other European charts. In March, the band announced North American dates to their
Delta Machine Tour, starting 22 August from
Detroit and ending 8 October in
Phoenix. In June, other European dates were confirmed for early 2014. The final gig of the tour took place in Moscow, Russia on 7 March 2014, at Olimpiski venue. That month, Depeche Mode won the award for "Best International Group – Rock / Pop" at the
Echo Awards in Germany. Also, they were nominated at the category "Album des Jahres (national oder international)" for
Delta Machine but lost against
Helene Fischer's
Farbenspiel. On 8 October 2014, the band announced
Live in Berlin, the new video and audio release filmed and recorded at the
O2 World in Berlin, Germany in November 2013 during the Delta Machine Tour. It was released on 17 November 2014 worldwide.
Spirit (2015–2021) In a 2015
Rolling Stone interview celebrating the 25th anniversary of
Violator, Gore stated that
Johnny Cash's cover of "
Personal Jesus" is his favorite cover version of a Depeche Mode song. On 25 January 2016, Gore announced a projected return to the recording studio in April, with both Gore and Gahan having already written and demoed new songs. In September, the official Depeche Mode
Facebook page hinted at a new release, later confirmed by the band to be a music video compilation,
Video Singles Collection, scheduled for release in November by
Sony. In October 2016, the band announced their fourteenth album titled
Spirit. It was produced by
James Ford, and was released on 17 March 2017. "
Where's the Revolution", the lead single from
Spirit, was released 3 February 2017, along with its lyric video. The official video was published a week later, on 9 February. The
Global Spirit Tour officially kicked off on 5 May 2017 with a performance in Stockholm, Sweden, at the Friends Arena. The first leg of the tour covered European countries only, ending with a final stadium show in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, at the Cluj Arena. The second leg of the tour covered North America and returned to Europe. The North America leg of the tour kicked off in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 23 August, at the USANA Amphitheatre. Depeche Mode broke a record when the band became the first to play four nights at the
Hollywood Bowl. The band remained in North America until 15 November when they left for Dublin to resume the European leg. The band ended the tour in Europe with two sold-out shows on 23 and 25 July 2018 in Berlin, Germany, at the Waldbühne. In September 2019, the band announced that
Spirits in the Forest, a documentary that was partially filmed during these shows by long-time collaborator
Anton Corbijn, would be released in theatres for one night only, 21 November 2019. It was released on CD, DVD and Blu-ray under the title
LiVE SPiRiTS on 26 June 2020. On 7 November 2020, the band were inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Prior to Fletcher's death, Gahan said: "There's a ton of stuff that we've done with Depeche Mode that I'm really proud of. I think that's come with time and age. Martin put out a record last year which I really liked. I actually bought a copy because it wouldn't feel right otherwise. I know he's been pottering away in his studio as well, so I guess at some point next year we'll get together. Hopefully at least to just have a chat about what we both feel like we could move forward with." On 15 August 2022, the social media accounts for Depeche Mode posted a photo of Gahan and Gore in a recording studio, with them tweeting, "finding stability in what we know and love, and focusing on what gives life meaning and purpose", which magazines like
NME suggested was a hint at work on a new studio album. On 4 October 2022, Depeche Mode announced their fifteenth studio album
Memento Mori and a
tour to support the album which started on 23 March 2023; the 23 March 2023 concert, which was held in the
Golden 1 Center in
Sacramento, California, would also mark Depeche Mode first performance in the United States in five years. The tour, which consisted of 112 shows, concluded on April 8, 2024. The first single, "
Ghosts Again", released on 9 February 2023, was co-written by
Richard Butler of
the Psychedelic Furs. It received relative success in the UK, charting at No. 14. "Ghosts Again" had widespread success in the US, charting in the top 10 of 3
Billboard charts. Reaching number 2 on the Adult Alternative Songs chart, Gahan said it "captures this perfect balance of melancholy and joy", while Gore said it has "such an upbeat feel to it" and how rare it is for the band to record a song that "I just don't get sick of listening to." The band stated that work on the album began during the
COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Gahan and Gore said they would send each other ideas for songs, for example Gahan said, "I played guitar and sort of sang on my iPhone", while Gore "sent it back with his angelic voice."
Depeche Mode: M, a documentary film chronicling the band's three concerts in
Mexico City which were held in September 2023 during the
Memento Mori World Tour, was theatrically released on October 28, 2025. Depeche Mode became part of the
War Child charity project
Help(2), contributing a cover version of
Buffy Sainte-Marie's song "
Universal Soldier". The album, produced by James Ford, was released on March 6, 2026. ==Musical style and influences==