(USA TODAY) -- Founding Yes bassist Chris Squire has died just over a month after revealing that he was suffering from leukemia. He was 67.
Asia and current Yes keyboardist Geoff Downes first reported the passing in a tweet: "Utterly devastated beyond words to have to report the sad news of the passing of my dear friend, bandmate and inspiration Chris Squire," he wrote on Twitter Sunday morning.
Yes confirmed Squire's death on their Facebook page: "It's with the heaviest of hearts and unbearable sadness that we must inform you of the passing of our dear friend and Yes co-founder, Chris Squire," the band wrote in a statement. "Chris peacefully passed away last night in Phoenix Arizona, in the arms of his loving wife Scotty."
"For the entirety of Yes' existence, Chris was the band's linchpin and, in so many ways, the glue that held it together over all these years. Because of his phenomenal bass-playing prowess, Chris influenced countless bassists around the world, including many of today's well-known artists. Chris was also a fantastic songwriter, having written and co-written much of Yes' most endearing music, as well as his solo album, Fish Out of Water. Outside of Yes, Chris was a loving husband to Scotty and father to Carmen, Chandrika, Camille, Cameron, and Xilan. With his gentle, easy-going nature, Chris was a great friend of many … including each of us. But he wasn't merely our friend: he was also part of our family and we shall forever love and miss him."
Squire was the only musician to be in every incarnation of the group until the illness forced him out earlier this year. Last month, it was revealed that Squire had been diagnosed with acute erythroid leukemia, and would not be touring with the group this summer.
At the time, he released a statement: "This will be the first time since the band formed in 1968 that Yes will have performed live without me. But the other guys and myself have agreed that Billy Sherwood will do an excellent job of covering my parts and the show as a whole will deliver the same Yes experience that our fans have come to expect over the years."
