Arthur Lee is dead

Arthur Lee, frontman of 60s psychedelic legends Love, has died at the age of 61.

The singer had been suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

A recent New York benefit concert had seen Robert Plant, Yo La Tengo, Ryan Adams and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah come together to raise money for Lee's medical expenses.

However, in an emailed statement, Lee's manager, Mark Linn, confirmed that the singer had succumbed to the disease on Thursday afternoon (August 3).

The statement read: "Arthur Lee died peacefully at Methodist Hospital in Memphis, a little after four in the afternoon Aug 3, 2006 with his wife Diane by his side.

"His death comes as a shock to me because Arthur had the uncanny ability to bounce back from everything, and leukemia was no exception. He was confident that he would be back on stage by the fall.

"When I visited with him recently, he was visibly moved by the stories and pictures from the NYC benefit concert.

"He was truly grateful for the outpouring of love from friends and fans all over the world since news of his illness became public.

"Arthur always lived in the moment, and said what he thought when he thought it. I'll miss his phone calls, and his long voice messages, but most of all I'll miss Arthur playing Arthur's music."

Love's 1967 album "Forever Changes" is widely considered one of the greatest of its era, and remains hugely influential nearly 40 years on.

Though only making the Top 30 in the UK (and failing to chart in the US), "Forever Changes" was recently ranked number 40 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.