Country star Chely Wright has paid tribute to her former percussionist Tom Roady, who passed away on Sunday night (27Oct11).
The musician was diagnosed with terminal metastatic cancer last month (Oct11), but died in his sleep of a heart attack following a gig on the Ricky Scaggs Christmas Tour.
Wright, who hired Roady to perform backing music on her 1997 album Let Me In, has now paid tribute to her pal.
In a message on Twitter.com, she writes, "So sad to hear of a great musician's passing. Tom Roady was second to none. Great player, great guy. Rest In Peace, sweet friend."
Tennessee native Roady recorded with artists including Tom Jones, Aretha Franklin, Kenny Chesney and Kenny Rogers throughout his lengthy career after breaking into the industry as a worker at Alabama's Muscle Shoals Sound Studio.