Louis Meyers, co-founder of Austin, TX’s South By Southwest music festival, has passed away. The news was confirmed by festival representatives today.

News of Meyers’ death began to spread today as SXSW kicked off its 30th iteration. The cause of death is rumored to have been a heart attack last night.

Meyers, who was a booking agent as well as a musician, founded SXSW in 1987 with Roland Swenson, Louis Black and Nick Barbaro. After heading up the booking for the festival in it’s early years, he sold his share of the event in 1994. Since then, Meyers headed up Kansas City’s Folk Alliance International conference, played with many musicians, headed up a music television channel in Austin and more.