Monty Python songwriter Neil Innes has died, aged 75

Innes was well-regarded for his work with Monty Python, The Rutles and The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.

Writer, comedian and musician Neil Innes has passed away suddenly at the age of 75. Innes was known for his work as a songwriter and performer with surrealist sketch troupe Monty Python - often referred to as 'the seventh Python' - as well as Beatles pastiche The Rutles and long-running experimental outfit The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. A spokesman for Innes' family told the BBC that he had not been suffering from any illness and that he passed away "unexpectedly" on Sunday, 29 December. Innes, pictured below in between his Monty Python cohorts Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle and Terry Jones, had been travelling home from France with his family at the time of his death. "It is with deep sorrow and great sadness that we have to announce the death of Neil James Innes on 29 December 2019," begins the statement from the Innes family. "We have lost a beautiful, kind, gentle soul whose music and songs touched the heart of everyone and whose intellect and search for truth inspired us all. "He died of natural causes quickly without warning and, I think, without pain." "His wife Yvonne and their three sons, Miles, Luke and Barney, and three grandchildren, Max, Issy and Zac, give thanks for his life, for his music and for the joy he gave us all." In addition to his comedy work, Innes released numerous albums and books under his own name as well as eventually being credited on Oasis track 'Whatever' after it was successfully argued that Noel Gallagher had borrowed melodies from Innes' 1973 song 'How Sweet to Be an Idiot'. Among those paying tribute to Innes on Monday were Python man John Cleese who hailed "a very sweet man, much too nice for his own good" on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnCleese/status/1211665639917654016 Mark Gatiss of The League of Gentlemen and Sherlock fame, director Edgar Wright and Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker also paid their respects: https://twitter.com/Markgatiss/status/1211625424549269504 https://twitter.com/edgarwright/status/1211630989627150336 https://twitter.com/charltonbrooker/status/1211636253327855616