Profile: Ralf Hütter, Kraftwerk

Ralf Hütter is the sole founder member still playing with the German band Kraftwerk.

The electronic music pioneers have just completed a major series of concerts in New York and are promising that they will soon be releasing a new album - the first in nearly a decade.

Coming from an obscure industrial background, Kraftwerk first formed in 1970, and are now credited with being hugely influential on a host of musicians and on music of diverse types, including electronic, hip hop, house and drum and bass.

Notoriously uncommunicative with the outside world, Kraftwerk used to only have a fax machine as a point of contact at their studio. Chris Bowlby charts the life and legacy of Ralf Hütter for Radio 4's Profile.

This edition of Profile was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday, 21 April at 19:00 BST. Explore the Profile archive by downloading the podcast.