Shaun Martin, a member of the Snarky Puppy band, is dead at age of 45.

His band confirmed the unfortunate news over the weekend with a statement reading: “Yesterday, we lost a music legend and, more importantly, a beautiful, luminous human being. Shaun Martin touched so many people during his life and through the beautiful immortality of music, will continue to do so. There’s so much that can be said but words can’t do justice.”

Martin’s cause of death has not yet been revealed but sources say he had been recovering from an undisclosed illness in which there was a benefit concert scheduled for him on September 14. Participating artists included Erykah Badu and Norah Jones.

Martin was a Grammy award-winning jazz musician who, outside of his work with Snarky Puppy, formerly served as the music director for Kirk Franklin. He also used to serve as the Minister of music at Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas.

A native of the Oak Cliff part of Dallas Texas, Shaun Martin got his start in music at a young age. He started taking classical and jazz piano lessons at age four and gleaned from gospel music he learned growing up in church. By high school, he was working with Kirk Franklin, and in college, he started working with Erykah Badu on her Mama’s Gun album.

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