Pete Way, founding bass player for the veteran U.K. hard-rock band UFO, died Friday at the age of 69.

A note on his Facebook page explains that Way died with his wife by his side, just two months after sustaining life threatening injuries “in an accident.”

Way played with UFO from the band’s 1968 inception until 1982. He rejoined UFO in 1988 and played with them on and off until 2008. The band’s most successful album in the U.S. was 1977’s Lights Out .

During the 1980s, Pete co-founded the band Waysted with fellow UFO member Paul Raymond, and the group Fastway, which also included guitarist “Fast Eddie” Clarke of Motorhead and drummer Jerry Shirley of Humble Pie.

During a visit to Buffalo and 97 Rock in 1983, Pete co-hosted “Metalshop” on 97 Rock with Carl Russo.  “Pete requested a bottle of vodka!,” Russo recalled.

Several rock stars have posted online tributes to Pete Way:

Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath): “This year keeps getting worse. Pete Way, one of the ‘characters’ of metal and fellow [Aston Villa Football Club] supporter has passed…Very funny man. RIP Pete.”

Charlie Benane (Anthrax): “We lost a legend today, #peteway you will always be the Coolest Rock Star.”

David Ellefson (Megadeth) “Very sad to hear of the passing of Pete Way today. The ‘Strangers in the Night’ live album is hands-down one of my all-time favorites, and for me the highlight of the UFO lineup of that day.”