AceShowbiz - Soul legend Eddie Willis has died, aged 82.

The original Motown Funk Brother, nicknamed Chank, passed away on Monday, August 20 after a lengthy battle with poor health.

The guitarist, who appeared on Motown hits like The Supremes' You Keep Me Hanging On and The Marvelettes' Please Mr. Postman, battled polio as a child, while he was learning to play the guitar in Grenada, Mississippi.

He moved to Detroit, Michigan and became a founding member of what was to become the Funk Brothers, as Motown boss Berry Gordy put together a supergroup of studio musicians.

He went on to tour with The Temptations' Eddie Kendricks and the Four Tops, and appeared in the 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown.

"He was the funkster," fellow Funk Brother Dennis Coffey tells Billboard. "He was an amazing guitar player. He had that Southern thing. He'd always come up with some funky lines. We did many sessions together and he was just an all-around nice guy. I never heard him get angry at anybody about anything. He just came in and did his job".