Stars pay tribute after keyboardist's death

Stars including Mick Jagger and Elton John paid tribute to songwriter and musician Billy Preston, who has died aged 59.

The soul-inspired keyboard player – who died in an Arizona hospital yesterday (June 6) – had been in a coma since November. His kidney failure condition had been caused by years of drinking and drug use.

As a teenager he played with soul acts such as Mahalia Jackson and Ray Charles then went on to even greater heights – appearing on the Beatles' 'Get Back' and Rolling Stones records Sticky Fingers and Black and Blue.

Recently he had worked on new albums by Neil Diamond and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Mick Jagger paid tribute to the musician last night. "Billy was a fantastic and gifted musician," he said. "He was great fun to be with … and I will miss him a lot." Elton John described him as "one of my true inspirations, one of the greatest keyboard players of all time and not too shabby a vocalist either".