Blues rock legend JJ Cale dead after suffering heart attack

Legendary singer and songwriter J.J. Cale died after suffering a heart attack Friday evening. He was 74.

Rosebud Agency announced the passing on their website. Cale's manager Mike Kappus confirmed to The Associated Press that the guitarist and shaper of the country-rock musical style known as "the Tulsa Sound" died of a heart attack at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, Calif.

Cale was an influential performer and producer who wrote the hits "After Midnight" and "Cocaine" for Eric Clapton, and "Call Me the Breeze" for Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The Oklahoma native cut a wide path through 1970s rock 'n' roll, influencing some of the most famous musicians at the time with songs that were laid back and mellow, yet imbued with a driving groove. As an engineer and co-producer of the album The Road to Escondito, Cale won his first Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album in 2008.

Cale was still writing songs, playing guitar, producing and engineering music just before he passed away, his official website JJCale states. Cale released 14 music albums in his lifetime. His last one was Roll On was released in 2009. His biggest hit single, “Crazy Mama,” made #22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1972.

A former member of the Grand Ole Opry touring company, Cale never rose to the level of success of his admirers, but his fingerprints could be heard all over the genre in the 1970s, and his music remains influential.

Ehab Zahriyeh contributed to this report. Al Jazeera and news services