News emerged late last night that Jimmy Ellis, lead singer of disco combo The Trammps, has died.

As The Charlotte Observer reports, Ellis had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for some time. Having last performed in Atlantic City in 2010, Ellis’ condition had been deteriorating as a result of the affliction.

The Trammps remain forever associated with their signature 1976 hit, the riotous ‘Disco Inferno’. They also enjoyed chart success with tracks like ‘Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart’ and the strutting ‘Hold Back The Night’. Having assembled around the turn of the 1970s, the band continued to tour right through until the tail-end of the noughties. In his formative years, Ellis also performed with R&B group Volcanoes And The Exceptions.

Spekaing about her father, Ellis’ daughter Erika said: “It was nothing for my father to finish a tour and to stay busy, work two jobs. He was always humble. Just a country boy singing music…I see ‘Saturday Night Fever on reruns, and there is my father’s voice, and I am thinking: Wow!”