Stuart Swanlund of Marshall Tucker Band Dies

Stuart Swanlund, the guitarist for American southern rock group the Marshall Tucker Band, died in his sleep of natural causes on Saturday, August 6.

Swanlund's publicist Don Murry Grubbs announced in a statement on Monday night that Swanlund was found dead in his Chicago home at the age of 54. The late guitarist's funeral will be held on Saturday (Aug. 11) at the Good Shepherd Memorial Park in Boiling Springs, S.C.

The Marshall Tucker Band, whose musical sound includes a blend of rock and roll, blues rhythm, jazz, and country, originated in Spartanburg, S.C. in the early 1970s (Swanlund's hometown). While the band reached the peak of its commercial success in the late 1970s, the Marshall Tucker band has been touring and recording with various members for over 40 years now. Swanlund joined the band in 1985 after it had briefly broken up then regrouped, following the death of former lead guitarist and vocalist Toy Caldwell in a car crash in 1980. Many of the original members of the Marshall Tucker Band went on to pursue other projects in the mid-1980s, and Swanlund became the longest-running member of the group except for founding member and vocalist Doug Gray.

The Marshall Tucker Band has released 27 studio albums, 2011's "The Marshall Tucker Band's Doug Gray:  Soul of the South" being the most recent. Some of their hits recorded with Swanlund include "Can't You See," "Heard It in a Love Song," and "Hangin' Out in Smokey Places."

Swanlund had currently been taking a hiatus from the band to deal with health issues. In a press release issued by Gray he states, "Stuart's enthusiasm onstage never wavered. Our thoughts and prayers are with Stuart's family and those who knew him. We have lost a great friend."

Swanlund, known by his friends and loved ones as "Stubie," leaves behind his life-long partner Stacey Schmaren, his son Billy, and three grandchildren.