The SXSW co-founder dies on the first day of the festival’s 30th anniversary.

Louis Meyers, one of the original founders of SXSW, died earlier today of a heart attack, the Austin American-Statesman reports. According to Bluegrass Today, Meyers complained to friends he was feeling unwell and asked to be taken to the hospital where he died shortly after. He was 61.

Meyers started SXSW in 1987 alongside Roland Swenson, Nick Barbaro, Louis Black, Joe Rae DiMenno and Linda Owen. Originally, his primary role was to book the music, but he sold his share and moved on in 1994, explaining in an interview that the stress of the festival was causing him health problems. Despite leaving, Meyers remained an active presence in music whether that was working as the executive director of the Folk Alliance Conference (who paid tribute to him on Facebook) or as a musician, manager and record producer himself.