Neil Innes, a British songwriter and comedian who collaborated with Monty Python and co-founded the Beatles pastiche band The Rutles, has died at age 75. A statement posted to Innes’ website said the musician died unexpectedly on Sunday of natural causes.

“We have lost a beautiful, kind, gentle soul whose music and songs touched the heart of everyone and whose intellect and search for truth inspired us all,” the spokesperson’s statement said.

Innes’ music career started in the early 1960s with the formation of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, an avant-garde comedy combo that in 1968 yielded the top-five single “I’m the Urban Spaceman,” which was co-produced by Paul McCartney and earned Innes an Ivor Novello Award. One of the band’s songs, 1967’s “Death Cab for Cutie,” later became the name of a U.S. indie rock band.

Innes released numerous solo albums over the years, beginning with 1973’s “How Sweet to Be an Idiot.” His final album, this year’s “Nearly Really,” nearly did not get released after he lost funds raised through Pledge Music. A GoFundMe campaign remains open in an attempt to recuperate the money raised.

Innes is survived by wife Yvonne, their three sons and three grandchildren, who “give thanks for his life, for his music and for the joy he gave us all,” according to a statement.

(SD-Agencies)