Andy Fraser has died aged 62.
The Free bassist passed away on Monday morning [March 16, 2015] at his home in California.
A cause of death was not immediately announced, but Fraser had been fighting cancer and AIDS, reports Ultimate Classic Rock.
“Andrew McLan Fraser passed away on Monday at his home in California,” says an official statement. “He leaves behind his daughters Hannah and Jasmine Fraser, and their mother Ri, his sister Gail, brothers Gavin and Alex, and many friends and associates in the industry.
“A survivor of both cancer and AIDS, Andy was a strong social activist and defender of individual human rights.”
Fraser was born in London in 1952. After playing with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, he co-founded Free when he was only 15 with Paul Rodgers.
Loosing Andy is very personal, no words, sad day. Paul pic.twitter.com/pNQRyroy0u
— Paul Rodgers (@_paulrodgers) March 18, 2015
During Free’s six years together, Fraser co-wrote much of the band’s music, including their 1970 hit, “All Right Now“.
Click here to read the Making Of… Free’s “All Right Now”
Free went on to see 20 million albums worldwide before Fraser left the band in 1972, to form Sharks with Chris Spedding.
He later formed the Andy Fraser Band, who released two albums, before he moved to California to become a songwriter. He wrote songs for other artists, including Rod Stewart and Joe Cocker.
In the 1980s, he was diagnosed with AIDS, followed by another diagnosis of a rare form of cancer, Karposi’s Sarcoma.
He reunited with Paul Rodgers to play Woodstock ’94.
More recently, Fraser has been active with a non-profit organisation, Rock Against Trafficking.