Pervis Staples, a founding member of the legendary gospel and soul group the Staple Singers, has died. A representative for his sister and former bandmate Mavis Staples confirmed to Rolling Stone that Pervis died on May 6 at age 85. Mavis also issued a statement: “Pervis was one of a kind — comical and downright fly. He would want to be remembered as an upright man, always willing to help and encourage others. He was one of the good guys and will live on as a true Chicago legend.” No cause of death was given.

Pervis (pictured above at right) was born in 1935. His father, Roebuck “Pops” Staples, taught the family gospel music growing up in Chicago, and by the early ’50s their group the Staple Singers — featuring Pops, Pervis, Mavis, and Cleotha Staples — had signed their first professional recording contract. Recording for labels such as Untied Records, Vee-Jay Records, Checker Records, Riverside Records, and Epic Records, they became a massively successful gospel group. Pervis sought to steer the group toward a more secular soul and R&B sound and ultimately left the Staple Singers in after their first album for Stax, Soul Folks In Action.

Before his departure from the group, Pervis struck up a friendship with Bob Dylan, which led to Pervis and Mavis duetting on Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” on the Staples’ 1968 album What The World Needs Now Is Love. (Dylan famously courted and even proposed marriage to Mavis; she turned him down.) Pervis was replaced in the lineup by his younger sister, the late Yvonne Staples.

After leaving the Staple Singers, Pervis managed the Chicago group the Hutchinson Sunbeams, who later became the Emotions. He also opened the Southside Chicago nightclub Perv’s House. He was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as a member of the Staple Singers in 1998 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award with the group in 2005. In addition to Mavis, the last living Staple Singer, Pervis is survived by six children, seven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.