Fellow rockers are mourning the death of Jon Lord, co-founder and retired keyboardist of Deep Purple, who passed away Monday (July 16) at the age of 71 in a London hospital. The band issued a statement calling Lord "our beloved Jon" and adding that "We have lost a dear friend, a brother and a wonderful musician. His dignity and graciousness touched us all. His music was an inspiration and took us to places beyond our imagination...A truly great man. We humbly express our eternal love and great respect." Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler issued a statement saying, "Very sad to hear of Jon's death, following his battle with the demon cancer. One of the great musicians of my generation. (Black Sabbath guitarist) Tony Iommi recently worked with Jon, and said what a lovely bloke he was. I met him a few times, but never got to work with him. Blessings." Whitesnake, whose David Coverdale was Deep Purple's third singer, tweeted, "God bless you Mr. Jon Lord. Hasta siempre maestro Jon Lord." Also expressing condolences were the Kinks ("RIP Jon Lord. A fantastic pianist and composer. With The Kinks, he played keyboards on 'You Really Got Me.' Legend."); former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett ("I'm saddened at the death of Jon Lord. A very nice man who brought the worlds of classical and rock music closer together."); Toto guitarist Steve Lukather ("My heartfelt RIP to Jon Lord. A massive influence of all musicians of my generation and beyond.") and actor Ewan McGregor ("Jon played with my great friend Tony Ashton. They'll be jamming upstairs now!"). Lord suffered a fatal pulmonary embolism after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Besides his music with Deep Purple, he also created an orchestral repertoire that included 1976's "Sarabande." He was working on a new treatment of his composition "Concerto For Group and Orchestra" that he recorded with Deep Purple in 1969.