Southern rock icon Leon Russell died aged 74 on Sunday morning in his sleep at his Tennessee on Sundayhome. The singer and songwriter who achieved rare fame as a session musician by playing with artists from The Rolling Stones to Elton John and pursuing his own eclectic career, suffered a heart attack in July 2016 and underwent bypass surgery, forcing him off the road to recuperate.
Born in Oklahoma, Russell emerged in the ’70s as one of rock’n’roll’s most dynamic performers and songwriters after playing anonymously on dozens of pop hits as a studio pianist in the 1960s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.
