Mike Pinder, keyboardist co-founder of Moody Blues, dies at 82

April 25 (UPI) -- Mike Pinder, keyboardist, vocalist and founding member of the Moody Blues, died Wednesday at his home in Northern California. He was 82.

Bandmate John Lodge confirmed his death in a Thursday post on Facebook.

"Michael's family would like to share with his trusted friends and caring fans that he passed peacefully," the post read. "His final days were filled with music, encircled by the love of his family. Michael lived his life with a childlike wonder, walking a deeply introspective path which fused the mind and the heart."

Born in Birmingham, England, in 1941, Pinder came up in a vibrant music scene that also produced members of groups like the Move, Traffic, Electric Light Orchestra and Black Sabbath.

Pinder and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Ray Thomas founded the Moody Blues in 1964. The band was influential in the development of the progressive rock genre.

He was an early proponent of the Mellotron, an early style of electronic keyboard that carried an distinctive orchestral sound that marked many Moody Blues songs.

The group's 1967 album "Days of Future Passed" is considered by many to be the first example of progressive rock. The album contained the hit song "Nights in White Satin," which would reach No. 2 in the United States when it was reissued in 1972.

Pinder was the last surviving original member of the Moody Blues.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, during a ceremony in which Pinder was present but did not speak. While some fans speculated Pinder disapproved of the Hall, Pinder said he just though the ceremony had gone on for too long.