Dick Wagner, a guitarist who played for many classic 1970s acts, passed away at the age of 71 on Wednesday in Arizona.
Susan Michelson, Wagner's business partner and manager revealed he had been in declining health over the past few years and he died of respiratory failure. He was in the Scottsdale hospital after having heart surgery. Over the last several years the guitarist had suffered from a stroke and two heart attacks.
During his musical career Wagner played with the likes of Kiss, Aerosmith, Lou Reed and Alice Cooper (right), Reuters reports, but first started out in the 1960s with his own group, the Bossmen.
He then helped found another group, the Frost, which saw much more success, including hitting Billboard charts with three albums. Wagner also played with Billy Joel for a short time as Ursa Major.
After working on his own bands, the guitarist began playing with Cooper, even snagging a couple co-writing credits, before also working with others, such as Kiss and Peter Gabriel.
Cooper released a statement on the "irreplaceable" guitarist, according to Billboard. "Even though we know it's inevitable, we never expect to suddenly lose close friends and collaborators."
The rocker added, "His brand of playing and writing is not seen anymore, and there are very few people that I enjoyed working with as much as I enjoyed working with Dick Wagner."
image courtesy of INFphoto.com