The american musician behind smash hit ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ is dead.

Bill Withers was 81 years old. It writes the family in a message to the AP.

The soulfulde singer broke through in the 1970s and until 1985 he recorded beyond the ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’, a number of other verdenshits as ‘Lean On Me’ and ‘Lovely Day’.

“We are heartbroken over having lost our beloved and devoted husband and father. A big city man with a heart that was driven to unite with the world in a larger prespektiv, with its poetry and its music spoke honestly with people and connecting them with each other,” says the family’s statement.

Bill Withers won three Grammys, and the 18. april 2015 was Bill Withers included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

It was Stevie Wonder, who said the winged words from the stage.

Bill Withers leaves his wife, Marcia Johnson, and their two children, Todd and Kori.