AceShowbiz - Little Feat co-founder Richie Hayward has passed away after contracting pneumonia as he battled liver cancer. The jam band drummer, who has played with Eric Clapton and Robert Plant, died on Thursday, August 12 at a hospital near Vancouver, Canada. He was 64. His publicist, Bridget Nolan, tells the Associated Press, "He was waiting for a liver transplant."

Hayward formed Little Feat in 1969 with frontman Lowell George, Bill Payne and Roy Estrada and the band became known for songs such as "Willin". They split in 1979 following the death of George, but the surviving members staged a successful reunion in 1987 and have been touring ever since.

Hayward's last performance with the group took place on July 11. "He's really been a beacon to a whole generation of younger drummers," singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, who performed with other musicians at one of the benefit concerts held to help pay for Hayward's medical bills, said as quoted by The Vancouver Sun. "He was really loved; he will be missed."