*Dan Peek, Founding Member of Rock Band America Dies at 60?

Dan Peek, a Christian artist and founding member of the folk rock band "America" died on Sunday at the age of 60 at his home in Farmington, Mo., outside St. Louis, Missouri.

Peek was famous for his hits like "A Horse with No Name," "Ventura Highway" and "Sister Golden Hair" that shot to the top of the pop charts in the 1970s. The band won a Grammy for the best new artist in 1972 for "A Horse with No Name."

Catherine, Peek's wife, found him dead on his bed, Milton Peek, Dan's father told The Associated Press. The cause of the death is not known yet and an autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.

Peek, founded the band America in the late 1960s with Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell as teenagers, while they attended high school together in London.

"We created lasting music together and experienced a life that we could never have imagined. Dan was an equal and integral part of that early history, and I have never forgotten the good times we spent making that music and learning about life together," America co-founder and bandmate Dewey Bunnell wrote on band's website.

"Although we eventually went our separate ways, his contributions to the music of 'America' have always been present and will last forever. This news brings great sadness. My sincere condolences go out to his wife, Catherine, and the entire Peek family. May Dan rest in peace and his memory be cherished forever," Dewey Bunnell wrote.

Beckley, who called Peek "a dear friend for many years," said the man "and his music will live on in the great songs he shared with us all," Reuters reported.

Peek also wrote the hit song "Lonely People" for his band America. He left the band in 1977 to pursue a career in Christian music and went on performing contemporary Christian music.

The band suffered a lot when Peek quit the group in 1977, during its peak time, but Beckley and Bunnell in 1982 returned to the top 10 with "You Can Do Magic."

Peek's first solo album "All Things Are Possible" topped the Christian Contemporary music chart in 1979 and scored Grammy nomination.

"I was a spectrum drug abuser, alcoholic, you name it," Peek told Goldmine magazine last year in discussing his 2004 autobiography, "An American Band: The America Story."