Former bandmates said the musician ‘will be deeply missed’.

A founding member of popular US rock band Cake has died aged 56.

The band shared the news of Greg Brown’s passing on social media on Sunday, saying he had suffered a “brief illness”.

“Greg was an integral part of Cake’s early sound and development,” they said.

“His creative contributions were immense, and his presence — both musical and personal — will be deeply missed.

“Godspeed, Greg.”

In a tribute on Instagram, former Weezer bassist Matt Sharp described Brown as his “shyest, most gentle and delicate friend”.

The pair went on an acoustic tour together in 2002.

“Our partnership, however brief, had lifetimes worth of love, tenderness and heartbreak,” Sharp said.

“We had a mutual understanding of each other’s imperfections and a mutual admiration for how we both tried to not let those imperfections get the best of us and stop us from moving forward.

“My sweetest friend, I’ll never meet another like you.”

The guitarist founded Cake alongside John McCrea, Vince DiFiore, Frank French and Shon Meckfessel in 1991.

Cake’s biggest song The Distance, which featured on their second album Fashion Nugget in 1996, was written by Brown.

The song went platinum in New Zealand and twice platinum in the US.

In Australia, The Distance and Cake’s cover of the Gloria Gaynor track I Will Survive received heavy rotation on Triple J.

Brown left the band following a tour of Europe and the United States in 1997.