Kate Bush has shared an emotional tribute to her former bassist John Giblin, who has died at the age of 71.

The musician’s death was confirmed in a Facebook post by the band Osibisa, with whom he had recently collaborated.

Giblin passed away last Sunday (May 14) in Cheltenham after “battling illness”, according to the group. The obituary went on to describe him as a “bass guitarist, double bass player, arranger and all-round session musician extraordinaire”.

The musician’s longstanding partnership with Bush began when he played bass on the legendary artist’s 1980 singles “Babooshka” and “Breathing”, both of which appear on her third album Never For Ever.

Additionally, Giblin and Bush contributed bass and backing vocals, respectively, to Peter Gabriel‘s song “No Self Control” that same year.

Giblin would go on to feature on Bush’s records The Sensual World (1989), The Red Shoes (1993), Aerial (2005), Director’s Cut (2011) and 50 Words For Snow (2011).

He was later chosen by Bush to perform in the band for her long-awaited comeback shows at London’s Hammersmith Apollo in 2014. The residency, titled ‘Before The Dawn’, was captured on a live album of the same name.

Paying tribute to Giblin on her official website, Bush wrote: “Everyone loved John. He was a really beautiful man in every sense of the word. Everybody wanted to work with him because he was such a great talent and everyone wanted to be his friend because he was such a wonderful person.

“I loved John so very much. He was one of my very dearest and closest friends for over forty years. We were always there for each other. He was very special. I loved working with him, not just because he was such an extraordinary musician but because he was always huge amounts of fun.”