Written by: Alex Green

Paul Kanter, one of the founders of Jefferson Airplane has died.

He was 74.

The cause of death was multiple organ failure and septic shock.

On Tuesday (Jan 26) Kanter reportedly had a heart attack and was admitted to the hospital, where his condition worsened.

The San Francisco-born guitarist had recently been in ill health, suffering a heart attack almost a year ago.

Kanter attended Santa Clara and San Jose State, before leaving school to immerse himself in San Francisco’s burgeoning folk scene.

Along with Marty Balin, Kanter formed Jefferson Airplane in 1966, and the band’s first lineup included Skip Spence, Signe Anderson, Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen.

But it was the addition of Grace Slick for the Surrealistic Pillow album that shot the band to psychedelic stardom.

The record yielded “White Rabbit” and the anthemic “Somebody To Love” both Top 10 singles that sound as fresh today as they did back in the late 60s.

Kanter and Slick became romantically involved and had a child named China.

Jefferson Airplane put out five records before calling it a day and morphing into the pop machine Jefferson Airplane, best known for their ’80s hits “We Built This City” and “Sarah.”

Kanter is survived by his daughter and two sons.