'Weird Al' Yankovic has led tributes to popular song satirist Tom Lehrer.
On Sunday, editors at The Associated Press reported that the singer-songwriter and mathematician had died at the age of 97 the previous day.
Longtime friend David Herder told the outlet that Lehrer passed away at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The Harvard University-educated musician rose to fame in the 1950s for his parodies of various forms of songs, such as The Elements, which lists the chemical elements to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's Major-General's Song.
He was also known for tracks on political and topical subjects, with titles including New Math, The Vatican Rag, and Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.
Following the news, Yankovic took to Instagram to post a black-and-white photo of Lehrer.
In the accompanying caption, the comedy musician thanked Lehrer for paving the way for artists such as himself.
"My last living musical hero is still my hero but unfortunately no longer living. RIP to the great, great Mr. Tom Lehrer," he wrote.
In addition, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson shared her sadness over the loss of Lehrer.
"Oh no. Tom Lehrer gone. At his great age, it's not a tragedy, I know, but it just does feel bad not having his genius in the world," she mused.
Previously, Daniel Radcliffe described Lehrer as "the cleverest and funniest man of the 20th century, and kind of my hero".
The Harry Potter actor also once performed The Elements on The Graham Norton Show in 2010 - which partly led to him landing the lead role in the 2022 film, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
Lehrer taught mathematics studies at Harvard University and the University of California, Santa Cruz. He also led a class in musical theatre before his retirement in 2001.
In 2020, Lehrer announced that he had transferred all of his music and lyrics to the public domain and established a website where his work could be downloaded.
"This website will be shut down at some date in the not too distant future, so if you want to download anything, don't wait too long," he stated.
