Rod Temperton, the man responsible for writing many of our favorite soul classics, including Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and “Off The Wall,” has sadly passed away at the age of 66.

Via Rolling Stone: Temperton died in London last week at the age of 66 after “a brief aggressive battle with cancer”, Jon Platt of Warner/Chappell music publishing said…”His family is devastated and request total privacy at this, the saddest of sad times,” Mr Platt said.

Temperton was laid to rest in a private funeral.

Now, we understand that many may not know him by name because he kept a low key profile and was even nicknamed ‘The Invisible Man’ for much of his career. But he was very instrumental in the history of soul music and if you love soul music, you definitely know his work.

Temperton started out as the keyboardist and primary songwriter for the soul group, Heatwave, and he wrote their most popular songs, including “Always & Forever” and “Boogie Nights.”

He later linked up with Quincy Jones after Jones asked him to work on MJ’s “Off The Wall” album with him. Temperton contributed to three songs on that album: “Off the Wall,” “Rock With You,” and “Burn This Disco Out.”

Then Temperton really made some noise when he later worked on MJ’s “Thriller” album and solely wrote the hit songs, “Thriller,” “The Lady In My Life,” and “Baby Be Mine.” He also came up with the name for MJ’s “Thriller” album.

Temperton, along with Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie, also co-wrote “The Color Purple” song, “Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister),” which was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards in 1989…

Other hits Temperton created are George Benson’s “Give Me The Night,” Michael McDonald’s “Sweet Freedom,” and Michael McDonald’s and James Ingram’s “Yah Mo B There”…

And his music credits don’t stop there, Temperton’s also worked with other icons, such as Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer, Karen Carpenter, Herbie Hancock, Rufus ft. Chaka Khan, Patti Austin, The Manhattan Transfer, Siedah Garrett, Klymaxx, Stephanie Mills Jeffrey Osborne, The Brothers Johnson and many more.

Temperton also won a Grammy in 1990 for his contribution on “Birdland,” from Quincy Jones’ album ‘Back on the Block.’

As you can see, Rod Temperton leaves behind an extensive catalog of some of the greatest soul jams ever. So he may be gone physically, but his musical legacy will keep living on for many generations to come. Rest well Rod Temperton and thank you for the beautiful music.