Daevid Allen, the eccentric frontman of the prog-psych-space-jazz fusion group Gong, has passed away last friday.

According to an official statement: “Daevid passed peacefully in Australia today, Friday 13th at 1.05pm, surrounded by his boys. Everything has stopped here in a house of tears. Tears first, celebration later – Jonny x”

Daevid has lost a battle against cancer. In a previous statement, Daevid said the cancer for which he had previously been treated has returned and spread to his lung. He said he would not be pursuing further treatment.

Allen, who was born in Australia in 1938, moved to the UK in 1961. He was a founder member of Soft Machine in 1966, but had to leave the band after being refused entry to the UK for overstaying his visa following a European tour. He remained in Paris, where he formed Gong, only to have to flee France for Majorca following the 1968 student riots.

Gong’s best known work was the Radio Gnome Trilogy, consisting of the albums Flying Teapot (1973), Angel’s Egg (1973) and You (1974).

Though Allen left the band in 1975, and spent most of the 80s in Australia, he returned to the UK and a version of Gong was playing again by 1991. They have continued to play and record intermittently since. Allen’s illness prevented him joining the band on their most recent tour, late in 2014.

Gong most recent album is called I See you (2014) and it was the last recording that Daevid has done.

Let’s celebrate his music with ‘Syllabub’ taken from Gong’s last album: