King Crimson and Foreigner founding member and multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald has died, aged 75.
McDonald's son Max wrote on Facebook: "I’m deeply saddened to tell you that my father passed away yesterday from cancer. He was incredibly brave, and never lost his kindness or his sense of humour even when the going was rough.
"My father was a brilliant, intuitive musician, a gentle soul, and a wonderful dad. He will live on forever through his beautiful music and the love of his fans. Thank you all".
McDonald, who had served for five years in the British army as a bandsman, co-founded King Crimson in 1968 alongside Robert Fripp, Greg Lake, Michael Giles and Pete Sinfield, and went on to record the band's classic 1969 debut album In The Court Of The Crimson King, before quitting the band, along with drummer Michael Giles, to release a lone McDonald And Giles album in 1970. A return to Crimson in 1974 was suppered when Fripp chose to terminate the band.
In a post on the King Crimson website, Robert Fripp noted: "Ian brought musicality, an exceptional sense of the short and telling melodic line, and the ability to express that on a variety of instruments."
McDonald also had a career as a session musician, notably playing on T-Rex's 1971 hit Get It On (Bang A Gong) and also producing albums for Irish prog rockers Fruupp and Darryl Way's Wolf.
He helped co-found Anglo-American melodic rockers Foreigner along with guitarist Mick Jones in 1976, appearing on the bands first three albums Foreigner (1977), Double Vision (1978) and Head Games (1979). He released a lone solo album, Driver's Eyes, in 1999.
In 1996 he featured alongside Steve Hackett (with whom he guested on several occasions) at two Tokyo concerts that also featured the late John Wetton and drummer Chester Thompson, where they played a series of classic Genesis, Crimson, Asia and Hackett material, which was released as The Tokyo Tapes in 1998.
Hackett tweeted: "I’m really sad to hear the news of Ian McDonald’s passing. He was a great friend and an incredible musician/songwriter. He will be very much missed."
In 2002 he was a member of the 21st Century Schizoid Band alongside former King Crimson members Michael and Peter Giles, Mel Collins and current Crimson singer Jakko Jakszyk, performing a repertoire of classic Crimson. He also appeared, alongside Fripp, on the late Judy Dyble's 2009 album Talking With Strangers.
More recently he had been working with long-time neighbour Lynnea Benson and her husband Ted Zurkowski, directors of New York City's Frog and Peach Theatre Company, which specialises in off-Broadway productions and readings of Shakespearean plays.
