Leslie West, the guitarist of Mountain, died of cardiac arrest on Wednesday, according to Rolling Stone and The New York Times.
West, 75, was known for his classic rock hit with the band, "Mississippi Queen," which was released in 1970. USA TODAY has reached out to West's rep for further information. He had a number of health problems throughout the years, notes The New York Times. He faced bladder cancer in the early 2000s and needed to have his right leg amputated in 2011 due to diabetes complications.
Fellow musicians paid tribute to West on social media.
"So sad to hear the news of Leslie West’s passing. He was a great guitar player and his band Mountain were one of the first band that Sabbath supported on our early tour of America. We struck up a great relationship on that tour – they were a really good band and Leslie’s playing and sound was just superb and he was a great singer too!" Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath wrote in a series of tweets.
Nils Lofgren wrote: "Rest In Peace, friend. Grin opened for Mountain and West, Bruce and Lang through early ‘70’s. Sweet, bad ass blues man. Got to play together first Rock n Roll Fantasy Camp. I’ll always remember his smile as he looked me in the eye, inspired and shared his gifts."
