Mars Williams, saxophonist of the Psychedelic Furs and Liquid Soul, died at age 68 on Monday from ampullary cancer, his brother, Paul, told the Chicago Tribune.
The Psychedelic Furs also confirmed the news on their official Instagram page Monday.
"We're heartbroken. Goodbye to the great Mars Williams. Rest well," the band wrote alongside a photo of Williams' saxophone on a stage.
Liquid Soul previously announced a benefit concert at Metro Chicago to help fund treatment for Williams' cancer, which has now become a celebration of Williams' life and musical legacy.
"Mars is a strong player. I need two saxophone players to play this show, just to replace him," Liquid Soul trumpeter Ron Haynes previously told the Chicago Tribune.
Williams collaborated with a range of artists, including Billy Idol, The Killers, and "virtually every leading figure of Chicago's and New York City's 'downtown' scene," according to his website.
Williams also shared his expertise in woodwind instruments and jazz history through teaching engagements at Bard College, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, University of Chicago, Roosevelt University, and the June Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art.
"It's so infectious, Mars's love of playing, in every sense of that word," guitarist Steve Marquette, who played and toured with Williams, told the Chicago Tribune. "Sometimes, the academically rigorous language that gets used around this music takes a front seat to that joy of making sound. But Mars' music is never about pushing people away. It's a pure and honest form of expression."
Williams' family also remembered the jazz artist in a statement posted to a GoFundMe initially created to help cover treatment costs.
"Until the end, Mars' inexhaustible humor and energy, and his love for music, pushed him forward," the family wrote. "As it became clear in late summer that his treatment options were coming to an end, he chose to spend six weeks of the time he had left living as he had since he was a teenager — out on the road performing night after night.
"Those last performances with the Psychedelic Furs will live on with all of the other incredible contributions that Mars has made as a person, and as a musician, and that boundless energy will continue to inspire."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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