British musician Denny Laine, co-founder of the Moody Blues and guitarist for Paul McCartney’s Wings, has died age 79.

Laine’s wife confirmed the artist’s death on social media, confirming the cause to be an interstitial lung disease which Laine had lived with for a long time.

“My world will never be the same. Denny was an amazingly wonderful person, so loving and sweet to me,” Laine’s wife, Elizabeth Hines, wrote on Instagram.

“He made my days colorful, fun and full of life-just like him. Thank you sweetie for loving me, for all the laughter, friendship, fun and for asking me to be your wife. I will love you forever .”

He co-founded the Moody Blues in 1964, and left in 1967, replaced by Justin Hayward.

In 1971, Laine joined Wings alongside Paul McCartney, and stayed with the band for a decade.

He co-wrote some of the band’s biggest hits, including Mull of Kintyre, which shot to the top of the UK charts in 1977 and remained the highest-selling single in the nation until 1984.