Roy Horn, a musician who was known for being half of the iconic Las Vegas-based duo Siegfried & Roy, passed away on Friday from complications due to coronavirus. He was 75 years-old.

Horn’s death was confirmed to Fox News by a spokesman for the act, who said he died at a hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Today, the world has lost one of the greats of magic, but I have lost my best friend,” Siegfried Fischbacher said. “From the moment we met, I knew Roy and I, together, would change the world. There could be no Siegfried without Roy, and no Roy without Siegfried.”

“Roy was a fighter his whole life including during these final days,” he added. “I give my heartfelt appreciation to the team of doctors, nurses and staff at Mountain View Hospital who worked heroically against this insidious virus that ultimately took Roy’s life.”

A rep for Horn had confirmed last month that he had tested positive for COVID-19.

Born in Germany, Horn developed a love for animals at an early age, beginning with his wolfdog, Hexe, and his pet cheetah, Chico, which he’d adopted from the Bremen Zoo located in northern Germany. He later worked on a cruise ship, where he met Fischbacher and assisted him in one of his magic acts. Horn is said to have asked Fischbacher at the time, “Siegfried, disappearing rabbits are ordinary, but can you make a cheetah disappear?”

Siegfried & Roy went on to travel the world together with their magic act, but they were best known for their forty-year run performing in Las Vegas. The duo performed six shows per week, 44 weeks per year, and it was estimated that they performed 5,000 shows for 10 million fans since 1990 at the Mirage, where they signed a lifetime residency in 2001.

“Throughout the history of Las Vegas, no artists have meant more to the development of Las Vegas’ global reputation as the entertainment capital of the world than Siegfried and Roy,” said Terry Lanni, chairman of MGM Mirage, the casino’s parent company.

They made sure to include exotic animals in their shows, including white tigers and lions as well as elephants.

“Their show is so fast-paced the viewer has time only to gasp before the next dazzlement,” an Associated Press reviewer wrote in 1989 when they performed in New York. “A white car drives on stage — as Liberace used to do — bringing a mother white tiger and three cubs. Roy rides an elephant, which disappears, then reappears. At the end, a 650-pound white tiger climbs atop a globe. With Roy on his back, they’re pulled into the air. It’s a Las Vegas show and it’s nonstop entertainment. New Yorkers aren’t too sophisticated for this.”

Sadly, Roy had to stop performing in 2003 when a white tiger named Montecore “reacted to what Roy believed was a stroke and dragged him off the stage.” Roy  was left with serious neck injuries and blood loss, and he went on to suffer a stroke himself. Despite this incident, Roy continued to “live a full and rewarding life after the show ended.”

Siegfried & Roy returned to the stage in February 2009 for what they called their one and only comeback performance, to raise money for the new Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas. The performance was brief and it included Montecore, the tiger who had attacked Roy years before.

“Roy’s whole life was about defying the odds,”  Fischbacher said Friday. “He grew up with very little and became famous throughout the world for his showmanship, flair and his life-long commitment to animal conservation. He had a strength and will unlike anyone I have ever known.”

Roy is survived by a brother, his many animal friends, and Fischbacher.