Saxophonist Manohari Singh, who was a close associate and music assistant of legendary music composer R.D.Burman, died here Tuesday following cardiac arrest. He was 79.

"Very sorry to hear about Manohari Singh's cardiac arrest, " melody queen Asha Bhosle, Burman's widow, posted on her Twitter page.

Bollywood's nightingale Lata Mangeshkar too tweeted about Singh's sudden death.

"A very good saxophone player, great arranger and a fabulous human being...Manohari da passed away...My heartfelt condolences to his family, " she posted.

Asha was recently accompanied by Manohari Singh and two other associates of Burman - Kancha and Homi Mullan - on the sets of Sony TV's music reality show "Indian Idol 5" for a special episode on her late husband.

Together, they created the same magic on stage that they used to in the recording studios and Singh looked hale and hearty. He had also become quite emotional on the show when Asha spoke about Burman.

Singh played the saxophone in many R.D.Burman compositions including songs like "Gaata rahe mera dil", and also played for songs in the recent movies "Chalte Chalte" and "Veer Zaara".

He got his first break in 1958 with Sachin Dev Burman as a saxophonist for the movie "Sitaron Se Aage". Megastar Amitabh Bachchan too reacted to his death.

"Oh gosh Lata-ji...very sad news. I was just some months ago at a function where he played...condolences and prayers, " he posted.

"Rest In Peace Manohari da, " said singer Shreya Ghosal.