The musician behind one of the most recognisable saxophone solos - on Gerry Rafferty's hit Baker Street - who was from Exeter, has died.

Raphael Ravenscroft, 60, who found fame almost overnight following the release of the 1978 track, went on to work with music icons such as Pink Floyd, Abba and Marvin Gaye, and more recently he worked as a session musician for pop artists Daft Punk and Duffy.

He died following a suspected heart attack early on Sunday.

Rafferty died at his daughter's home near Stroud in January 2011 and at his funeral, a recording by Ravenscroft called Forgiveness was played.

Ravenscroft is reported to have been paid £27 for the session with a cheque that bounced, while the hit reached number three in the UK charts and number two in the US and Rafferty was said to have earned £80,000 a year from the royalties on the song alone.

In a radio interview in 2011, Ravenscroft said hearing the song annoyed him.

He said: "I'm irritated because it's out of tune. Yeah, it's flat. By enough of a degree that it irritates me at best."

He had already appeared on one disco album by Maxine Nightingale, Right Back Where We Started From, in 1976, as an arranger but emerged as one of pop-rock's most prominent sax men.

In 1990 Ravenscroft, also a former tutor of music at York College, published a successful instruction book, The Complete Saxophone Player.

This summer Ravenscroft, of Exeter, Devon, organised a charity gala concert in memory of a local schoolgirl who died after falling from a wall in May this year.