Grammy-winning bluegrass musician JD Crowe, whose influential career spanned more than 50 years, has passed away. He was 84. Son David confirmed the death in a message, which read, “We just want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. As great a musician as dad was, he was even better as a husband, father and friend.”

Crowe died on Friday of undisclosed causes, the family earlier announced via Facebook. Born James Dee Crowe in 1937, his career included stints with Jimmy Martin’s Sunny Mountain Boys, Mac Wiseman and his own band, the Kentucky Mountain Boys, which later became the New which later became the New South.