Songwriter and pianist Allen Toussaint has died

Allen Toussaint, the legendary New Orleans singer-songwriter who counts R&B songs such as "Mother-in-Law" and "" among the hits he has written, has died while on tour in Europe.

The music community is mourning the loss of New Orlean's music icon Allen Toussaint.

The musical legend was in Madrid, Spain, having just performed a concert Monday night, when he had a heart attack. However, he stopped breathing during his ambulance ride and was unable to be revived.

Sadly, the world woke up Tuesday, November 10 to news of the death of Allen Toussaint, one of the most important musicians and composers in the history of New Orleans and music in general.

Born in 1938, Toussaint got his start as a teenager playing around the Crescent City. In the early "60s, Toussaint was hired to play piano in place of an absent Harold Batiste at the Minit Records studios, penning priceless hits for Irma Thomas ("It's Raining", ""), Ernie K-Doe ("Mother-in-Law", "A Certain Girl"), Benny Spellman ("") and Lee Dorsey ("Ya Ya"), among others". He co-founded Sea-Saint Studios in 1972, where such talents as Paul McCartney and Paul Simon recorded.

Artists in almost every major genre recorded Toussaint's songs or collaborated with him, including the , the Yardbirds, Herb Alpert, Glenn Campbell, Robert Palmer and Alison Kraus and Elvis Costello.

"I was so glad when the Stones recorded my song", Mr. Toussaint once told an interviewer.

"The world's gonna miss him, that's all I can say", she added.

One of Toussaint's biggest hits was as the producer of the landmark 1974 album Nightbirds from LaBelle. WWL-TV reports that the versatile musician and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee passed away in Madrid yesterday.

Drummer Freddy Staehle met Toussaint at the age of 17.

He eventually began performing more and producing his own albums in the 1970s. Hurricane Katrina and the federal floods brought 5 feet of water into his New Orleans home.

Allen Toussaint attends The Musical Mojo of Dr. John: A Celebration of Mac & His Music at the Saenger Theatre on May 3, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

"We kind of had a common ground where his creativity helped my career and he always said that my voice helped inspire him to write, so I guess that's where the friendship was", Thomas said.

"He was one of the most gentle, loving, and wise people I've ever known", Raitt wrote.

In 2013, Allen Toussaint was awarded the most prestigious award that an American artist can get - the National Medal of Arts.

Any time a musician dies, it's common to say that he or she was taken too soon.

Toussaint's extensive catalog of songs, both those released under his own name and those made famous by other artists, were regularly covered by classic-rock acts over the years. I remember my dad driving me past his music studio in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans, but we never went in.