Sadness over death of guitar legend Johnny Winter

The Texas-born musician, singer and producer, who was born with albinism, had been due to make an appearance at the Robin 2 in Bilston on December 2, but the concert was postponed due to an illness.

Club owner Mike Hamblett said that he had been awaiting confirmation of a re-arranged date for the show but nothing had been finalised before he was found dead in his hotel room near Zurich, Switzerland last week, two days after his final concert.

The reason for his death is yet to be confirmed but is thought to be due to ill health.

"We have had Johnny Winter perform here three times in the past. He was true legend and we had been looking forward to having him play here once again. It is sad local fans won't hear him perform one more time," said Mr Hamblett.

Tickets for the December 2 concert had not gone on sale.

Wednesbury-born guitar star Joanne Shaw Taylor, who had supported Johnny Winter several times, also said on Twitter that she had been saddened to hear the news that he had passed away.

Joanne, who plays Birmingham Town Hall on November 15, releases her next album The Dirty Truth on September 22.

Johnny Winter, who is survived by his singer and multi-instrumentalist brother Edgar, helped attract a white audience to the blues in his early career.

He had been due to release his next albumStep Back in September. It features stars including Joe Bonamassa, Eric Clapton, ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons and Aerosmith's Joe Perry. His next US tour was scheduled for August.

Winter, who was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1988, also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for the late blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters.

He appeared on a local children's show at the age of 10 playing ukulele and singing Everly Brothers songs with his brother. His recording career began at the age of 15 and he released his first album in 1968.

He had been plagued by a series of health problems in recent years.