Arthur Lee, an influential musician best known as singer/guitarist for ’60s band Love, has died. He passed away on Thursday in hospital at the age of 61.

Reuters reports that Lee had been battling leukemia since being diagnosed with the disease earlier this year.

“His death comes as a shock to me because Arthur had the uncanny ability to bounce back from everything, and leukemia was no exception,” said his manager, Mark Linn. “He was confident that he would be back on stage by the fall.”

His wife, Diane, was at his side when he died in the Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, TN.

Aside from their sound, Love was grounbreaking in that they were the first multicultural band of the psych-rock era. They made three records together before dissolving in the late ’60s.

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