The man responsible for a stack of classic pop hits has passed away.

Rod Temperton, the British songwriter behind Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ and Heatwave’s ‘Boogie Nights’, has died at 66.

Temperton died in London last week after “a brief aggressive battle with cancer”, Jon Platt of Warner/Chappell music publishing said.

Born in Cleethorpes, north east Lincolnshire, Temperton kickstarted his career with disco legends Heatwave, who were famed for their 1976 track ‘Boogie Nights’, written by Temperton, along with the singles ‘Always and Forever’, released the following year and ‘The Groove Line’ of 1978.

Temperton left Heatwave in 1978 and went on to write for Anita Baker, Donna Summer, Aretha Franklin, The Brothers Johnson, Herbie Hancock and Quincy Jones, who took him on board to work alongside Michael Jackson. Among Temperton’s songwriting credits are Jackson’s ‘Thriller’, ‘Rock With You’ and ‘Off the Wall’, George Benson’s ‘Give Me the Night’ and Aretha Franklin’s ‘Livin’ in the Streets’. He also collaborated with Jones on the soundtrack to the film adaptation of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple.

Temperton was nicknamed The Invisible Man because of his low profile.

Artists including The Weeknd, Chaka Khan, LL Cool J and Nile Rodgers have paid tribute to Temperton on social media.