The legendary drummer and founding member of the pioneering CAN, Jaki Liebezeit has passed away at age 78.

The drummer who has been hailed as sounding “half-man, half-machine” is one of the most influential drummers around, especially for his work with Krautrock pioneers CAN.

After growing quite impatient and disillusioned with his work with free jazz groups, he joined Michael Karoli, Irmin Schmidt and Holger Czukay in forming CAN, who grew to become one of the greatest cult bands.

After CAN disbanded, Liebezeit formed several drum bands and worked with several bands including Brian Eno and Depeche Mode, both influenced by the works of CAN.

It was announced near the end of 2016 that Liebezeit would take part in a special CAN tribute show under The CAN Project name with fellow CAN members Schmidt and Michael Mooney along with guests like Thurston Moore.