Sad news today from Memphis: legendary, beloved, and woefully under-appreciated singer, songwriter, guitar player and all-around genius Alex Chilton has passed. Preliminary reports indicate that the singer, days away from reuniting with the band for which he’s most well known, Big Star, at SXSW, reported feeling ill before being taken to the hospital. Details are currently not clear, but it appears that Mr. Chilton died of a heart attack. He was 59 years old, and he was a musical hero to perhaps more than he knew.

(Via Commercial Appeal and NY Times Arts Beat)