NEW YORK (AP) — Randy Meisner, a founding member of the Eagles who added high harmonies to such favorites as “Take It Easy” and “The Best of My Love” and sang and co-wrote the hit “Take It to the Limit,” has died at 77.

The Eagles said in a statement that Meisner died Wednesday from of complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Called “the sweetest man in the music business” by former bandmate Don Felder, the baby-faced Meisner joined Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Bernie Leadon in the early 1970s to form a quintessential Los Angeles band that is one of the most popular acts in history.