_photo via Tony Visconti’s_ “_Facebook_”:https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209289299932162&set=a.1164806282971.25527.1312292203&type=3&theater

Dennis Davis, former drummer for David Bowie, has died after a battle with cancer, Fact reports. Davis worked with Bowie throughout much of the ’70s and also drummed for other acts including Iggy Pop.

The New York native worked with jazz drummers Max Roach and Elvin Jones and recorded with others in the early ’70s before teaming up with Bowie for his albums Station to Station, “Heroes,” Low, Lodger and Scary Monsters and touring with Bowie in the late ’70s and early 2000s, including his final tour in 2003. Davis also contributed to Pop’s album The Idiot and Stevie Wonder’s Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants and Hotter Than July.

As Pitchfork reports, fellow Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti posted a note on Davis after hearing the news, which can be seen below, along with the picture above.

Dennis Davis has passed away. He was one of the most creative drummers I have ever worked with. He came into David Bowie’s life when we recorded some extra tracks for Young Americans and stayed with us through Scary Monsters and beyond. He was a disciplined jazz drummer who tore into Rock with a Jazz sensibility. Listen to the drum breaks on “Black Out” from the “Heroes” album. He had a conga drum as part of his set up and he made it sound like two musicians were playing drums and congas. By Scary Monsters he was playing parts that were unthinkable but they fit in so perfectly. His sense of humor was wonderful. As an ex member of the US Air Force he told us stories of seeing a crashed UFO first hand by accidentally walking through an unauthorized hanger. There will never be another drummer, human being and friend like Dennis, a magical man.