The Big Man, saxophonist Clarence Clemons of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, has suffered a stroke and is seriously ill, The Associated Press and Rolling Stone say they have confirmed.

The news was first reported at ShowBiz411.com.

Clemons is 69, AP says. Rolling Stone reminds us that he "has gone through a series of medical ailments — mostly involving his back and knees — over the past decade."

As ShowBiz411 says, "it's [Clemons'] trademark sound on Rosalita and other songs from The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle that established Bruce, and moved him from singer songwriter to R&B aficionado."

So far, none of the news outlets have many details about Clemons' condition.

Update at 9:55 a.m. ET: Clemons was a guest on The Tavis Smiley Show in 2003. Click here to listen.

And E Street Band fans don't need to reminded that one key member has already died. Keyboardist Danny Federici was 58 when he passed away in 2008.

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Source: NPR