FILE - In this July 6, 2004 file photo, the legendary American Jazz performer, Dr. John, performs on the Auditorium Stravinski stage, during the 38th Montreux Jazz Festival, in Montreux, Switzerland. The family of the Louisiana-born musician known as Dr. John says the celebrated singer and piano player who blended black and white musical influence with a hoodoo-infused stage persona and gravelly bayou drawl, has died. He was 77. A family statement released by his publicist says Dr. John, who was born Mac Rebennack, died early Thursday of a heart attack. (Photo/Keystone/Sandro Campardo, File)
The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Latest on the death of Mac Rebennack, the New Orleans musician better known as Dr. John (all times local):
6 p.m.
Louisiana's governor is remembering the musician known as Dr. John as "a true Louisiana legend."
Gov. John Bel Edwards issued the statement Thursday evening. It came soon after news broke that the musician whose real name was Mac Rebennack, had died of a heart attack.
Another New Orleans musical star, Irma Thomas, told New Orleans television station WVUE that Dr. John was loved by fans around the world. She described the man who was also known as the "night tripper" as "a mystical person."
There was also this from Ringo Starr on Twitter: 'God bless Dr. John peace and love to all his family. ..."
Dr. John was 77.
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5 p.m.
The family of the Louisiana-born musician known as Dr. John says the celebrated singer and piano player who blended black and white musical influence with a hoodoo-infused stage persona and gravelly bayou drawl, has died. He was 77.
A family statement released by his publicist says Dr. John, who was born Mac Rebennack, died early Thursday of a heart attack.
His spooky "Gris Gris Gumbo Ya Ya" slithered onto the pop-dominated market in 1968, startling listeners with its sinister implications of other-worldly magic.
In a career marked by drug addiction, he later had a Top 10 hit with "Right Place, Wrong Time." He collaborated with numerous top-tier rockers, won multiple Grammy awards and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
FILE - In this Aug. 3, 2012 file photo, Mac Rebennack, in his stage persona as Dr. John, performs during the opening night of the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, R.I. The family of the Louisiana-born musician known as Dr. John says the celebrated singer and piano player who blended black and white musical influence with a hoodoo-infused stage persona and gravelly bayou drawl, has died. He was 77. A family statement released by his publicist says Dr. John, who was born Mac Rebennack, died early Thursday of a heart attack. (AP Photo/Joe Giblin, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this , March 14, 2011 file photo, Dr. John, right, is presented his trophy by John Legend at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Jan 10, 1991 file photo, Dr. John, Wynton Marsalis and Jon Hendricks, left to right, get together at New York's Hard Rock Cafe to announce the nominations for the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards. The family of the Louisiana-born musician known as Dr. John says the celebrated singer and piano player who blended black and white musical influence with a hoodoo-infused stage persona and gravelly bayou drawl, has died. He was 77. A family statement released by his publicist says Dr. John, who was born Mac Rebennack, died early Thursday of a heart attack. (AP Photo/Malcolm Clarke, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Nov. 1, 2017 file photo, New Orleans musicians "Dr. John" Mac Rebennack, center, and Charmaine Neville, left, arrive at the former home of Fats Domino, during a second line parade honoring the music legend, in New Orleans in the week after Domino's death. The family of the Louisiana-born musician known as Dr. John says the celebrated singer and piano player who blended black and white musical influence with a hoodoo-infused stage persona and gravelly bayou drawl, has died. He was 77. A family statement released by his publicist says Dr. John, who was born Mac Rebennack, died early Thursday of a heart attack. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Feb. 26, 1997 file photo, Dr. John, right, and Jimmie Vaughan hold their awards for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, for their work on "SRV Shuffle," during the 39th Annual Grammy Awards in New York. The family of the Louisiana-born musician known as Dr. John says the celebrated singer and piano player who blended black and white musical influence with a hoodoo-infused stage persona and gravelly bayou drawl, has died. He was 77. A family statement released by his publicist says Dr. John, who was born Mac Rebennack, died early Thursday of a heart attack. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
The Associated Press