Ricky Gardiner, a guitarist popularly known for previously collaborating with two of the most significant musicians of all time, Iggy Pop and David Bowie, has passed away at the age of 73.
The rock legend confirmed the tragic news on Twitter, writing, "Dearest Ricky, lovely, lovely man, shirtless in your coveralls, nicest guy who ever played guitar. Thanks for the memories and the songs, rest eternal in peace."
Although the singer did not confirm his cause of death, producer and the guitarist's good pal, Tony Visconti, took to Facebook to announce that Gardiner "ended a long battle with Parkinson's [disease]."
He also noted that the news was confirmed to him by the late musician's wife through email.
According to Pitchfork, Gardiner was a frequent collaborator of Iggy Pop, and one of his most notable song credits was "The Passenger."
In a previous interview with The Independent, he recalled how the track came to fruition, saying it was a "case of the chord sequence 'slipping through'" while he was lost in the glory of a beautiful morning.
Aside from writing for Iggy Pop ("Success" and "Neighborhood Treat"), he also contributed on David Bowie's "Low" and "Tonight."
The guitarist spent his early days in Edinburgh, Scotland. He never got any formal music training when he was a kid as he taught himself how to play instruments and later polishing it when he got interested in casual bands as a teenager.
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In 1969, he co-founded the prog rock band Beggars Opera, and it became successful as they released numerous albums before disbanding in 1975, with their last record being "Beggars Can't Be Choosers."
Gardiner first met the "Ziggy Stardust" hitmaker, then he got acquainted to Iggy Pop afterwards.
At the time, since Bowie was going through his sobriety journey and having problems with promotion, he joined Iggy Pop for a tour in 1977 to promote his album "The Idiot."
The "Life on Mars" hitmaker came up with creating a backing band with him playing the keys and Gardiner on the guitar.
Even though the guitarist stepped away from the limelight in recent years, he continued to create music alone, specifically electronic material and meditation music.
In 2006, he candidly opened up about suffering from electrosensitivity for more than a decade, saying the condition hindered him from being around the production equipment whenever he wrote or recorded music.
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