Much-loved musician Max Merritt has passed away.
As reported by the Herald Sun, Merritt died in Los Angeles at age 79.
Merritt was diagnosed with Goodpasture Syndrome, "a rare serious auto-immune disease that attacks the lungs and kidneys", back in 2007 and had been receiving dialysis treatment since.
“He really put up a great fight and will be sadly missed by all that knew and loved him," said personal manager and friend Wal Bishop in a statment.
The New Zealand-born Merritt was best-known for his track Slippin' Away which was a huge chart success on release in 1976.
Merritt, along with his band The Meteors, had previously found success with tracks like Hey, Western Union Man, Good Feelin', Shake and more.
He was inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame in 2008, saying at the time, "It's fabulous, we don't set out to aim to do this, we just hope that it happens some day and we're a little part of Australian history."
Max Merritt & The Meteors toured with the likes of The Rolling Stones and the Searchers in the mid-'60s, and later became the first signing to the British arm of Arista Records, signed by Clive Davis.
In October 2007, artists including Renee Geyer, Ross Wilson, Joe Camilleri & the Black Sorrows, Jon English, Russell Morris, John Paul Young, Daryl Braithwaite and more performed at The Concert For Max benefit, raising more than $200,000 to support Merritt after his illness left him unable to perform.
“It backed up what a huge influence Max had on us all," said English at the time.
"We’ve all got Max stories. Tales that will be told for as long as antipodean musicians and performers cross paths, marvelling over the man who showed so many how it is done, or certainly how it should be done."
