Variety reports that Williams – a native of Lancaster, South Carolina – died in a hospital on August 6 and is survived by his wife, Emily. News of his death was announced by the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.

The New York Times further reports that Williams and the group are known for songs such as “May I” and “Little Darlin'” as well as “Stay,” with the aforementioned song regaining popularity after its use in the “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack.

According to Entertainment Weekly, “Stay” was the shortest song ever to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100, at just one minute and 32 seconds long.

“It took me about 30 minutes to write ‘Stay’ and then I threw it away,” he once told www.classicbands.com. “We were looking for songs to record as Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs.”

“I was at my girlfriend’s house playing the tape of the songs I had written and her little sister said, ‘Please play the song with the high voice in it. I know she meant ‘stay.’ She was about 12 years old and I said to myself, ‘She’s the age where you buy records,’ and the rest is history. I thank God for her.”

The same Entertainment Weekly article also states that Williams and the Zodiacs continued to record and tour after 2000.