Legendary folk musician — and arguably one England’s best guitarists — Davy Graham passed away on Monday (December 15), he was 68. Graham’s manager Mark Pavey told the Guardian that the musician was “diagnosed with lung cancer only weeks ago and suffered a seizure at his home at around 3.30pm yesterday.”

His debut release in 1962, the EP 3/4 AD, contained his most famous song, “Anji”. Inspired by his girlfriend at the time, the song was covered by many artists, including Simon and Garfunkel on their 1966 album Sound of Silence. Noted for his role in the 1960s folk revival, and his impeccable acoustic style, Graham is credited with touching on a wide range of influences in his music, particularly jazz and blues, as well as elements from a wider world of sounds, such as Indian or Arabic, that were not particularly well-known at the time.

There will be a private funeral held for Graham this week and a public memorial service is being planned for January. Further details of the service will be posted here, while Davy Graham’s website currently features testimonials from a few of the people he touched as a musician.

From the Davy Graham website:It is with great sadness that we have to announce that Davy died yesterday amongst friends and family from a massive seizure at home after a short battle with lung cancer… Davy will be missed by those of us who loved him. The many fans who came to see his last concerts gave him much joy and satisfaction and was something he drew great strength from.

“Probably England’s greatest guitarist” –Paul Simon

“He’s my absolute hero, always will be” — Bert Jansch