Ralph Tavares dead: Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel star dies at 79

Singer Ralph Tavares has died days before his 80th birthday.

Ralph was a member of 70s group Tavares, who were behind hit songs including Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel.

The New Bedford native's cause of death is yet to be revealed.

Ralph Tavares was the fifth of the 10 Tavares siblings and he found fame alongside his brothers Pooch, Chubby, Butch and Tiny – Ralph was the only member of the group without a nickname.

The band became one of the top R&B acts in the world with their version of More Than a Woman a appeared on the soundtrack for the iconic film Saturday Night Fever.

The movie album went on to be one of the best-selling albums of all time and winner of the Album of the Year Grammy in 1979.

The Tavares family grew up in Providence before moving to New Bedford in 1962.

Ralph then joined the Army while his brothers continued to try to make it in the local music scene.

He then returned home in 1965 and joined Chubby and Turnpikes and the group renamed itself, Tavares.

Ralph decided to leave the band in 1984 for family reasons, he then rejoined in 2014 after Pooch suffered a stroke.

Pooch recovered but then retired with Ralph staying with the group as they continued to perform.

Ralph was a Dartmouth resident who, during his time away from the music business, spent over 30 years working as a court officer in New Bedford and Fall River.

Following the news breaking of Ralph's passing, several fans have taken to social media to mourn the musician.

DJ Lorraine King penned: "RIP Ralph Tavares from the soul band Tavares Ralph sadly died two days before his 80th birthday and as a tribute I'm going to postpone my proposed Willie Hutch feature and instead play an hour of Tavares tracks on my @colourfulradio vinyl-only show on Saturday at 10am."

A second added: "Rip Ralph Tavares...loved the song Heaven must be missing an angel."

A third person wrote: "My dear friend, Ralph Tavares, has just died. My mother last did his hair two weeks ago and he wanted to take home our cavacas and it was before he did a gig at the Hard Rock Cafe in Florida with his brothers (Tavares) opening for the Jacksons. Heaven has gained an angel." 

Reference: The Mirror: Lucy Needham