The poet behind much of the Grateful Dead’s anthology has passed away: Robert Hunter died Monday at 78.

Family members said in a statement Tuesday that the experimental rock legend’s enduring songs will help him live on forever.

“It is with great sadness we confirm our beloved Robert passed away yesterday night,” Hunter’s family announced in the statement to Rolling Stone. “He died peacefully at home in his bed, surrounded by love. His wife, Maureen, was by his side holding his hand.

“For his fans that have loved and supported him all these years, take comfort in knowing that his words are all around us, and in that way his is never truly gone. In this time of grief please celebrate him the way you all know how, by being together and listening to the music. Let there be songs to fill the air.”

Hunter’s cause of death is unknown, but follows an apparent health struggle. In 2013, he went on tour to help pay off his medical bills from a spinal abscess.

Hunter joined the experimental rock group a few years after meeting Dead frontman Jerry Garcia in 1961 and sending him song lyrics. He eventually became the Northern California band’s “lyricist in residence,” writing words to go along with their jam sessions, including for the song “Dark Star,” Rolling Stone reports.

Other Hunter-penned songs Deadheads can be grateful for include “Ripple,” “Brokedown Palace,” “Eyes of the World,” “Box of Rain,” “Scarlet Begonias” and “Touch of Grey.”

He sought to write words that would honor the band’s eclectic vibe. He once told Rolling Stone that his favorite verse was in the song “Ripple: “Let it be known there is a fountain that was not made by the hands of men.”

Hunter was inducted along with the Grateful Dead into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 — he was the only nonperformer ever honored as a band member, according to Pitchfork. In 2015, Hunter was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In addition to the Dead, Hunter also wrote with Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan.

“He’s got a way with words, and I do too,” Dylan told Rolling Stone. “We both write a different type of song than what passes today for songwriting. He’s the only guy I work with who I give the liberty to change things. After all, he is who he is.”