NEW YORK (AFP).- R&B legend Allen Toussaint, one of the signature forces in New Orleans music whose songs have been played by a who's who of rock greats, has died, his family said Tuesday.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, who was 77, died suddenly in Madrid shortly after performing Monday at the Spanish capital's Teatro Lara.

"Allen Toussaint, our beloved father and ambassador of New Orleans music and culture, passed away unexpectedly," his son Clarence said in a statement. 

Raised in a humble home, Toussaint from a young age mingled with New Orleans' leading musicians and helped make the city -- best known as the birthplace of jazz -- a global center for R&B production of popular songs. 

Artists who came to Toussaint included Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello, Joe Cocker and The Rolling Stones, who along with Otis Redding scored a hit with his song "Pain in My Heart."

Global stage for New Orleans
"He brought the New Orleans sound to the national stage, and it remains a vital and ongoing part of our musical heritage to this day," reads his biography at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where he was inducted in 1998.

The Rolling Stones paid tribute by posting on social media the rockers' cover of "Fortune Teller," one of Toussaint's hits that has also been performed by The Who and by Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant in a recording with bluegrass star Alison Krauss.

Other memorable Toussaint songs include "Working in the Coal Mine" and "Southern Nights," which was a number one hit for country singer Glen Campbell.

In a 2013 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Toussaint said he could not quite believe what he had achieved over the years.

"On my 14th birthday... for whatever reason, I said to myself, 'I'm 14 and every 10 years I'm going to check back with this 14-year-old and tell him how I'm doing'," he said.

"I have no idea how I came up with that, but from then on I had those chats. They don't last long," he said.

"I often say how surprised I am at how far I've come. The 14-year-old at the piano just listens -- but he always seems as surprised as I am."

Finding new drive after Katrina
A lifelong New Orleans resident, the songwriter and pianist had rarely felt a reason to travel until 2005 when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, killing more than 1,800 people on the US Gulf Coast.

Toussaint was missing for several days and then temporarily relocated to New York in a move that, despite his age, inspired him to become a more active stage performer after long preferring to stay in the background.

He became a regular headliner at Joe's Pub, the intimate Greenwich Village nightclub.

Costello recalled the first show, writing, "What everyone saw that day at Joe's Pub was a master songwriter awakening to a new set of possibilities."

Despite the destruction of his hometown, Toussaint "has never been remotely bitter or self-pitying about the whole experience" and "his songbook was invulnerable," the English rocker wrote in his recent memoir, "Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink."

Costello and Toussaint collaborated on a 2006 album, "The River in Reverse," which offered a subtle political critique on the slow response to Katrina and was the first major musical work recorded in part in New Orleans after the tragedy.

Toussaint had since traveled frequently and also dedicated himself to humanitarian work in his hometown.

After dates due in coming weeks in Belgium, Britain and New York, Toussaint had been scheduled to perform in New Orleans on December 8 at a benefit with Paul Simon against homelessness and hunger.

US President Barack Obama hailed Toussaint for returning to New Orleans when he presented him in 2013 with the National Medal of the Arts.

"Allen has devoted his musical talent to lifting up and building up a city," Obama said.


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