Jon Lord, who was best known as the keyboardist for Deep Purple, died this morning after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 71 years old.

Lord was an original member of the hard rock legends along with Ritchie Blackmore, Nick Simper and Ian Paice. Lord had a key hand in writing their biggest hits, including “Smoke on the Water” and “Strange Kind of Woman.” The band originally had a softer sound, scoring hits with covers of Joe South’s “Hush” and Neil Diamond’s “Kentucky Woman” before shifting to the harder sound that they would become best known for.

After the band’s dissolution in 1976, Lord spent time playing in Whitesnake as well as recording solo albums that highlighted his skills as a classical composer. He returned to Deep Purple in 1984 for their reunion tour and remained with the band until 2002, when he retired from the group amicably. He released his last solo album, To Notice Such Things, in 2010.