Walter Becker Facts: Steely Dan Co-Founder Dies At 67

Walter Becker, guitarist, bassist, who co-founded the popular 1970s band named Steely Dan, died Sunday at the age of 67, his personal website confirmed.

His website made the announcement Sunday along with two photographs of the musician and a short digital epitaph: "Feb. 20, 1950 - Sept. 03, 2017." However, the website did not disclose the cause of death.

Becker co-founded the rock band Steely Dan in 1972 along with the lead vocalist and keyboardist Donald Fagen when they studied at the Bard College in New York. Becker played bass and guitar for the jazz-flavored band and the duo received widespread acclaim and commercial success even when the band toured frequently into 2017, according to the Guardian.

The band including the pair were known for their unique, jazz-rock sound, and are well-known for producing numerous hits including "Do It Again," "Reeling' in the Years" and "Rikki Don't Lose That Number."

Born in Forest Hills, Queens, on Feb. 20, 1950, Becker had studied saxophone and guitars during his teenage years. He was currently said to have been living in Maui, Hawaii.

Becker had been unable to perform with his band Steely Dan this summer at Classic West and Classic East in Los Angeles and New York City, which is said to be two stadium-size festivals of 1970s bands, as he was recovering from an unspecified ailment. In August, Fagen told Billboard: "Walter’s recovering from a procedure and hopefully he’ll be fine very soon."

As the duo that made up Steely Dan, Becker and Fagen were said to have modified and evolved the vocabulary of pop during the 1970s with their famous songs like "Do It Again," "Reelin’ in the Years," and "Peg."

Becker and Fagen were said to be closely connected and cooperative while deciding on each and every element of a song that they made including the words, the arrangement, and the music. "We think very much the same musically. I can start songs and Walter can finish them," Fagen had said in a 1977 interview.

Steely Dan’s lyrics were never straightforward and they mostly portrayed mysterious situations and sketched characters like addicts, suicidal fugitives, and dirty old men. "You can infer certain things about the lives of people who would write these songs. This we cannot and do not deny," Becker said during an online interview with the BBC in 2000.

The band Steely Dan was said to have been named after a dildo in William Burroughs novel "Naked Lunch." The band dissolved after its 1980 album, "Gaucho," in the year 1981 even though Becker and Fagen were said to have kept contact. In 1993, the band re-emerged.

Fagen wrote a tribute to Becker on Sunday after the announcement of his death, which was reported by Rolling Stone.

"Walter Becker was my friend, my writing partner and my bandmate since we met as students at Bard College in 1967," Fagen wrote in a tribute to Becker. "He was smart as a whip, an excellent guitarist, and a great songwriter. He was cynical about human nature, including his own, and hysterically funny. I intend to keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band."

Musicians and other celebrities mourned Becker's death on social media and mentioned it was a major loss to the music industry. Actor Rob Lowe said tweeting that Becker had "brightened my world."

The British radio presenter Danny Baker also mourned his death.