Dave Marsh, an early Bruce Springsteen biographer and dean of music critics, has died. He was 76.

Marsh died on Friday, Aug. 14, at his home in Connecticut, SiriusXM host Jim Rotolo announced on social media Saturday, Aug. 15. Marsh and Rotolo were longtime cohosts of SiriusXM’s Springsteen-themed station E Street Radio.

A cause of death was not disclosed.

“Some sad news today, E Street Nation. Bruce Springsteen biographer, SiriusXM host and my friend Dave Marsh passed away late yesterday at his home in Connecticut,” Rotolo wrote. “Rest easy, Dave. Thank you for everything, my friend. You will be missed.”

Marsh wrote what is considered the first biography of Springsteen, 1979’s “Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story,” as well as 1987’s “Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s” and 2003’s “Bruce Springsteen: Two Hearts: The Definitive Biography, 1972-2003.”

He was part of a generation of 1970s-era music critics who extolled rock ‘n’ roll in a more scholarly way than previous critics. Yet Marsh was one of the few from the era to show that the genre was part of a diverse American music tree that included R&B, soul, gospel and more.

The Detroit native also wrote books on music icons The Who, George Clinton, Sly and the Family Stone, The Beatles and others, in addition to writing and editing for magazines Rolling Stone and Creem. But it was his works on Springsteen that helped define the Boss’ public persona.

“Here on E Street, the irreplaceable loss of Dave Marsh has us heartbroken,” Springsteen wrote in an emotional social media post Saturday, Aug. 15. “My great friend Dave, with his straight out of Detroit attitude, was a true Rock ‘n’ Roll lifer. He was soulful, intelligent, heartfelt, opinionated, bruising and often fantastically argumentative. Watching Jon Landau and Dave drive each other crazy over some arcane piece of music would make my day. He wrote the first book about me, ‘Born to Run,’ and Dave always had my back.

“He deeply believed in what I was trying to accomplish, and his lifetime of support meant the world to me. More than anything else, I admired Dave as a man of conscience and commitment. He lived and stuck by his values come hell or high water. Wherever he is, I hope he’s receiving some of the grace, happiness and reward he’s brought into my life. God bless you, Dave.”

At 19, Marsh became one of the first editors at Creem magazine, and he later wrote the first Rolling Stone cover story on Springsteen in 1978. He attended the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show at the Harvard Square Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in May 1974 with fellow music critic and later Springsteen producer Jon Landau, who wrote the famous line, “I saw rock and roll’s future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen.”

Landau became Springsteen’s manager, while Marsh’s wife, Barbara Carr, was part of the singer’s management team.

“Dave Marsh detailed the cultural complexities and wonderful joy of American popular music and did so much to define Springsteen’s contribution to it,” said Bob Santelli, founding executive director of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, in a statement. “When I was struggling with my first book [1984’s ‘The Big Beat: Conversations with Rock’s Great Drummers’], it was Dave who patiently guided me through the book-writing process. I never forgot his friendship or generosity.”

Steven Van Zandt pays tribute to Dave Marsh

Musician Steven Van Zandt, who plays guitar in Springsteen’s E Street Band, also paid tribute to Marsh in an emotional statement on social media.

“RIP Dave ‘The Duke’ Marsh,” Van Zandt wrote in the Aug. 16 post. “An early believer on E Street and a very early supporter of the Jukes when we really needed it. He was fearless, relentless, arrogant, everything you’d want in a rock ‘n’ roll troublemaker. And by the way, a tremendous writer.”

“People know his Bruce and The Who books,” Van Zandt continued, “but his overlooked [‘Louie Louie: The History and Mythology of the World’s Most Famous Rock ‘n’ Roll Song’] captured an essential untold part of rock history and was Dave at his brilliant best. Travel well my friend.”