Garcia began playing with the band when he was just 15 years old.

Kevin Garcia, co-founder and bassist of US indie heroes Grandaddy, has died at 41.

According to a statement posted by the band, Garcia passed away on Monday night (May 1) after “succumbing to the effects of a massive stroke.”

“There are no accurate words to express what we need to,” reads the statement. “We are absolutely shattered to say that we lost our friend and band mate Kevin Garcia early this afternoon. He succumbed to the effects of a massive stroke. We were all able to say goodbye to him and he was surrounded by his closest friends and family here in Modesto.”

“He was an actual angel. He navigated life with a grace, a generosity and a kindness that was utterly unique. And contagious. He is loved so deeply by so many,” they added.

Garcia formed Grandaddy with singer/guitarist Jason Lytle and drummer Aaron Burtch in 1992. The band released their (criminally underrated) debut album Under the Western Freeway in 1997, featuring the weirdo pop classic ‘A.M. 180’. This was then followed in 2000 by the technology-skewering fantasia The Sophtware Slump – one of the best albums of the decade.

Grandaddy went on to release two more albums – 2003’s Sumday and 2006’s Just Like the Fambly Cat – before parting ways in 2006, although performed a string of reunion concerts a few years later. They then returned this year with a brand new album, Last Place and are scheduled to go on tour this month.

The band have asked fans to help Garcia’s family’s with upcoming expenses via the GoFundMe page.