Sir Rod Stewart has paid tribute to his "dear friend" Robin Le Mesurier.

The 76-year-old singer took to Instagram to mourn the loss of his longterm guitarist, who reportedly passed away on Wednesday (22.12.21) at the age of 68 after battling cancer.

Rod shared a photo of himself on stage with Robin and wrote on Instagram: "A Rock & Roll soul, rest in peace my dear friend [prayer emoji] #robinlemesurier (sic)"

Rod's Faces bandmate, Ronnie Wood, also paid tribute to the guitarist, who had joined them when the pair, along with Kenney Jones, reunited in 2015.

The Rolling Stones rocker - whose 1981 solo album, '1234' featured contributions from Robin - tweeted: “Rest in peace Robin, I have so much respect for you ~ you will be missed.”

Robin's first band, The Reign, disbanded in 1973 and he then performed with novelty act the Wombles before becoming a session guitarist later in the decade and performing with the likes of Johnny Hallyday, Sir Elton John and Jeff Beck.

In 1977, he toured with Rod's opening act Air Supply, and went on to join the 'Maggie May' hitmaker's backing band in 1980, playing on a number of his albums over the years.

Rod had previously paid tribute to his friend's "unforgettable stage presence".

In the foreword to Robin's 2017 autobiography, 'A Charmed Rock 'N' Roll Life', he wrote: "Robin has an unforgettable stage presence. Over the years I've had some wonderful musicians and bands but I also always wanted mates - someone I could sit in a bar with, fall down with and even confide in. Robin has all these qualities and more. Like myself, he was born to be a rocker."