As a founding member of glam rock band The Sweet, Steve Priest was responsible for a string of 70s smash hits that remain popular today.
The bass player, who has died aged 72, played on songs like Ballroom Blitz and Wig Wam Bam as the group carved out a name for themselves alongside the likes of T-Rex and Queen in the colourful era for British music.
Film director Edgar Wright and author Irvine Welsh are among those who have taken to social media to pay tribute to the music legend following his death on Thursday.
His co-founder Andy Scott said: “I am in pieces right now. His wife Maureen and I have kept in contact and though his health was failing I never envisaged this moment. Never.
“My thoughts are with his family.
“He was the best bass player I ever played with. The noise we made as a band was so powerful.
“From that moment in the summer of 1970 when set off on our musical odyssey the world opened up and the rollercoaster ride started.”
Priest was born in Hayes, Middlesex, on 23 February 1948.
He joined the group in the late 1960s when they were known as Sweetshop and they had their first hit in 1971 with Funny Funny.
Like many bands in that era, they were as known for their outrageous look as they were for their stomping anthems.
Block Buster! would reach number one in 1973, with Hell Raiser, Ballroom Blitz and Teenage Rampage making it to number two in the charts that year.
Ballroom Blitz, which is still often played today, was based on an incident where the band was bottled off stage in Kilmarnock during a phase where they preferred playing lesser-known tunes live.
The group’s last international success came in 1978 with Love is Like Oxygen and they gradually splintered over the years.
In 2008, Priest formed his own version of The Sweet in Los Angeles, and they spent the next 10 years touring.
He is survived by his wife, Maureen, whom he married in 1981 and their three daughters.
