Blues Legend Johnny Winter Dies In Switzerland

US blues legend Johnny Winter has died in a hotel room in Zurich, Switzerland, aged 70.

"His wife, family and bandmates are all saddened by the loss of their loved one and one of the world's finest guitarists," a statement on his Facebook page read.

"Based on the initial elements of the investigation, it appears that this death was the result of medical reasons, and that nothing points to the involvement of another person," a police spokesman told AFP.

Winter, who was born with albinism, began playing the clarinet aged five, and switched to the ukelele and then the guitar a few years later.

According to his official website, he formed his first band when he was 14.

His big breakthrough eventually came in 1968 when Rolling Stone magazine dubbed him the hottest item after Janis Joplin in an article about the Texas music scene.

He went on to produce three Grammy award-winning albums with Muddy Waters in the late 1970s. Several of his own albums were also nominated for Grammys.

It is not yet known how the blues guitarist and singer died, but he had been due to release his new album in September.

His last performance was at the Cahors Blues Festival in France on July 14.

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