Robert Taylor, former lead guitarist of the New Zealand band Dragon, has died.
The band is known for hits like April Sun in Cuba and Are You Old Enough?
Drummer Kerry Jacobson posted about his former bandmate's death on Instagram.
"I'm writing to share the unexpected and devastating news [about the] passing of my mentor, my partner in crime for some of the best times, my musical comrade through the hardest of times and my dear friend of decades … the irreplaceable Robert Taylor," he wrote.
"He had a dry wit, was a keen observer and had a memory like a razor but mostly he was just one of the good ones. That's what has stuck in my head today 'he was one of the good ones' and I think that sums it up. I will miss him terribly."
AudioCulture, an online New Zealand music library, posted on Facebook about the guitarist after his death.
It said Taylor joined the band at the end of 1974 and became one of "New Zealand's best-known lead guitarists".
"On the recording of the band's big hit April Sun in Cuba — written by keyboardist Paul Hewson on a broken guitar — it is Taylor who plays the chunky two chords on which the song is based," the Facebook post said.
The Facebook post also added that Taylor began writing about his life in 1977, when the band began to have a string of radio hits.
He wrote that he was born in Waipukarau, New Zealand, and was the son of an ice cream manufacturer and a stay-at-home mother.
Mr Jacobson added in his post: "Many admired his songwriting and his musical talent and, after all these years people would still speak to me with great reverence of his talent and contribution to Australian music".
Are you old Enough? was featured as the theme song for the hit Australian TV show Puberty Blues.
