Steely Dan co-founder, guitarist Walter Becker dies at 67

LOS ANGELES -- Walter Becker, the guitarist, bassist and co-founder of the 1970s rock group Steely Dan, which sold more than 40 million albums and produced such hit singles as "Reelin' In the Years," "Rikki Don't Lose that Number" and "Deacon Blues" has died. He was 67.

His official website announced his death Sunday with no other details.

Donald Fagen said in a statement Sunday his Steely Dan bandmate was not only "an excellent guitarist and a great songwriter" but "smart as a whip," "hysterically funny" and "cynical about human nature, including his own."

"I intend to keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band," Fagen wrote.

Although Steely Dan had been touring recently, Becker had missed performances earlier in the summer in Los Angeles and New York. Fagen later told Billboard that Becker was recovering from a procedure. Fagen said at the time he hoped Becker would be fine soon.

Musicians were quick to mourn Becker on social media. Mark Ronson tweeted Becker was "one half of the team I aspire to every time I sit down at a piano."

Ryan Adams and the band The Mountain Goats tweeted that Becker changed their lives. Slash posted a photo of Becker on Instagram, simply writing "RIP #WalterBecker".

A Queens native who began playing the saxophone and eventually picked up the guitar, Becker met Fagen as students at Bard College in 1967 and founded the band in 1972 after they moved to California.

They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.