Music legend Tom Bahler, who provided backing vocals for The Partridge Family and wrote Michael Jackson's She's Out Of My Life, died peacefully with his son by his side at the age of 82 on Monday March 2. No cause of death has been disclosed but it was revealed he had a "long illness". The news was confirmed in a Facebook post by his sister-in-law – Janet Lennon of vocal group The Lennon Sisters. "We have all been so saddened this week at the passing of my brother-in-law, Tom Bahler after a long illness. He was my special 'Buddy' for over 50 years… he called me his sister-in-love," she penned.

She reeled off a lost of his accomplishments including working with Quincy Jones, and his contribution to star studded charity track We Are the World, for which he acted as musical supervisor. She concluded her touching tribute: "He will be missed by his family, children and grandchildren, and large bevy of friends. He was truly a sweet brother and a legend."

Although he started out as a performer, it was with songwriting and behind the scenes that Tom would make his mark. In his early career, he worked with Jan Berry of Jan and Dean fame and he and his brother John were vocalists in the Ron Hicklin Singers.

The siblings, along with a collective of session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew, sung, produced and arranged hundreds of worldwide hits and they were the featured background voices on The Partridge Family recordings in the 1970s. His is one of only four backing voices that appears on every single Partridge Family album.

His biggest hit would come in 1979 when Michael Jackson recorded She's Out of My Life for his debut solo album Off the Wall. Tom originally write the song for Frank Sinatra, who never recorded it.

He worked closely with Michael's producer Quincy Jones and during his career he also worked with B. J. Thomas, Neil Diamond, Sonny & Cher, a post Partridge Family David Cassidy and Billy Joel. However he considered his most significant project to be 1985's We Are the World - the charity single from US recording artists released on the back of the UK's Feed the World by Band Aid.

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Heartfelt tributes flooded in for the star as the news began public with people sharing their feelings on social media. Taking to Facebook author Johnny Ray Miller wrote: "Tom Bahler was one of the foremost working background vocalists in the Hollywood music industry... Sadly, we lost him this week, in a peaceful passing with his son by his side... He stood forever proud of his work with The Partridge Family. R.I.P. my friend. You cheered me on, you rooted for me, and you truly believed in me. I hold back my tears in memory of you."

A fan penned: "Jeez. Huge loss. Those harmonies he created with the Ron Hicklin Singers on Partridge Family albums were just pure magic - played them on repeat for many hours. Will be missed."

A third chimed in: "RIP Tom Bähler. My dear friend — a truly gifted singer/songwriter, producer, composer, arranger, novelist, and always the life of the party. You had that rare magic of making everyone you met feel like they were your most special friend. Through your music, you poured depth, soul, and meaning into this world. I miss you, my brother!"

Meanwhile a fourth touchingly shared: "The world lost a legend, and I lost a dear friend… Thomas Bähler was one of those rare souls who carried both genius and grace in the same breath... When the time came to gather 46 of the greatest musicians alive into one room and create We Are the World, it was Tom who quietly solved what seemed unsolvable. He researched every voice, mapped every range, and decided who would sing what on the most iconic charity recording in history. Without him, that night doesn’t happen the way it happened... You’ll be missed, my good friend. Deeply."