FRANKLIN, Tenn., Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Bobby Keys, the legendary saxophonist for the Rolling Stones, died Tuesday, the band announced on Twitter. He was 70.
Keys died at his home in Franklin, Tenn., from cancer and liver failure, Michael Webb, the keyboardist for Bobby Keys and the Suffering Bastards, told the Nashville Scene.
The Rolling Stones said the saxophonist would have to miss the Australian and New Zealand legs of the band's 14 On Fire tour in October because he was "under doctor's orders to take it a bit easy for the next month."
Keys was born in Lubbock, Texas, and played saxophone with the likes of Elvis Presley, John Lennon and Eric Clapton. He left the Rolling Stones in the 1970s but rejoined the band in the 1990s.
Several musicians, including Keys' own bandmates, took to Twitter on Tuesday to express their grief at his death.
"I have lost the largest pal in the world and I can't express the sense of sadness I feel although Bobby would tell me to cheer up," a post by Keith Richards says. "My condolences to all that knew him and his love of music."
