MIKE HOSSACK, a longtime member of U.S. rock band THE DOOBIE BROTHERS, has died of cancer at the age of 65, the band’s manager said on Tuesday.

Hossack, who helped give the band its distinctive sound with two drummers in the early 1970s, died peacefully on Monday at his home in Dubois, Wyoming, manager Bruce Cohn said.

New Jersey-born Hossack began playing drums at the age of 12. After serving in the Navy in Vietnam in the late 1960s he was planning a career in law enforcement before getting his first gig with a California band called Mourning Reign.

That led to an invitation to join the northern California band The DOOBIE BROTHERS in 1971, where he became the second drummer and was heard on early hit songs like 'Blackwater', 'Listen to the Music' and 'China Grove.'

Hossack left the DOOBIE BROTHERS in 1973 and formed Bonaroo, worked with other bands, and became a partner in a Hollywood recording studio.
 
He rejoined the DOOBIE BROTHERS in 1987 for a series of benefit concerts for Vietnam war veterans, and remained with them when the band reformed to make albums like 'Cycles', 'Brotherhood' and 2010’s 'World Gone Crazy.'