According to a post on his Facebook page Corea died on February 9 of a rare form of recently discovered cancer.

 

Corea's career began in the 1960s, working with jazz musicians such as Stan Getz and Herbie Mann, before he joined Miles Davis in the late 60s. He appeared on such Davis albums as In A Silent Way (1969), Bitches Brew (1970), Jack Johnson and Live-Evil (both 1971).

 

In 1972 Corea released the album Return To Forever, which in turn became the band RETURN TO FOREVER, featuring Stanley Clarke on bass, Joe Farrell on flute and saxophone, Aito Moreira on drums and Flora Purim on vocals. 1973's Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy featured Lenny White on drums and Bill Connors on guitar. Connors was replaced by Al Di Meola for 1974's Where Have I Know You Before. The perceived 'classic' line-up of the band would also release No Mystery (1975) and Romantic Warrior (1976) which went Gold but after which Corea changed line-up.

 

Corea was the fourth most nominated musician in Grammy Award history, being nominated 63 times and picking up 23 awards, his last being for Best Latin Jazz album for Antidote last year, and would also work with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Chaka Khan and more.

 

In 2008 he reformed the classic RETURN TO FOREVER line-up for a successful world tour and he celebrated his 75th birthday in 2016 by playing with more than 20 different groups during a six-week stand at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York, among them fellow fusion pioneer John McLaughlin.