British musician and comedian Neil Innes has died at the age of 75.

The comic songwriter, best known for his collaborations with the iconic comedy troupe Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) unexpectedly passed away on Sunday (29Dec19).

“It is with deep sorrow and great sadness that we have to announce the death of Neil James Innes on 29th December 2019,” Nigel Morton, Neil’s agent, said in a statement. 

“We have lost a beautiful kind, gentle soul whose music and songs touched the heart of everyone and whose intellect and search for truth inspired us all. 

“He died of natural causes quickly without warning and, I think, without pain.”

Neil Innes
Pictured: Neil Innes (second from the left) with members of Monty Python.

Often known as the ‘seventh Python’, Innes contributed music to Monty Python‘s albums including Monty Python’s Previous Record and The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief, as well as writing and performing songs and sketches for the group’s final 1974 TV series. 

The funnyman also toured the U.K. and Canada with them, and was only one of two non-Pythons, alongside The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams, to be credited as a writer for the TV show.

Innes also appeared in the films Monty Python’s Life Of Brian and Gilliam’s Jabberwocky and partnered with Idle on the sketch show Rutland Weekend Television, about a fictional low-budget regional TV network.

Monty Python’s John Cleese has led the tributes to his former co-star. 

“Utterly dismayed to hear about Neil Innes,” the funnyman wrote. “Right out of the blue… A very sweet man, much too nice for his own good. Lovely writer and performer.”

“When he worked with Python on our stage show, I listened every night to ‘How sweet to be an Idiot’ on the tannoy,” Cleese added, referring to one of his favourite Innes songs.

Actor and Doctor Who writer Mark Gatiss also paid tribute to Innes via Twitter, stating: “As a Python-obsessed teen I saw him at Darlington Arts Centre & missed my bus home to catch his brilliance.

“ I used to record (radio show) The Innes Book of Records… & marvel at his talent. I still hum ‘I like Cezanne, says Anne’. Sweet dreams, sweet idiot.”

Meanwhile, filmmaker Edgar Wright added: “If it’s true that the great Neil Innes had sadly passed away, please let me raise a glass to the man. Forever a fan of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.”

Innes’ wife Yvonne, their three sons Miles, Luke and Barney and three grandchildren Max, Issy, and Zac, have stated they are thankful “for his life, for his music and for the joy he gave us all.” 

Source: WENN. 

Images: Getty / Pierre VAUTHEY / Contributor. 

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