Remember Jefferson Airplane? One of the founding member and giants of the San Francisco music scene, Paul Kanter reportedly died Thursday, Jan. 27, suffered a heart attack this week.

According to San Francisco Chronicle, Kanter's longtime publicist and friend, Cynthia Bowman, confirmed his death and reveals that the guitarist and vocalist died of multiple organ failure and septic shock. He had suffered several health problems in recent years, including a heart attack in March.

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Way back, with Jefferson Airplane, Mr. Kantner pioneered what became known as the San Francisco sound in the mid-1960s, with such hits as “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit.” The Airplane was renowned for thrilling vocal gymnastics by singers Marty Balin, Grace Slick and Mr. Kantner, the psychedelic blues-rock sound developed by guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bass player Jack Casady and the LSD-spiked, ’60s-era revolutionary fervor of its lyrics.

The band was formed in 1965 in a Union Street bar called the Drinking Gourd, when Balin met Mr. Kantner and expressed his interest in creating a “folk-rock” band. It didn’t take long for the Airplane to attract a sizable local following, enough so that when fledgling promoter Bill Graham opened his legendary Fillmore Auditorium, the Jefferson Airplane served as the first headliner, San Francisco Chronicle wrote.

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Meanwhile, some of the musician’s friend shared on social media Kanter’s death. One of which is David Crosby, who performed with the earliest incarnation of Jefferson Starship, tweeted on Thursday, writing,

Kantner is survived by three children: sons Gareth and Alexander, and daughter China, ET wrote.

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Celebrity deaths