The Voice judge Blake Shelton 'heartbroken' as he reacts to the death of country music legend Joe Bonsall

Blake Shelton shared a touching tribute online after the death of Joe Bonsall of the Oak Ridge Boys.

Joe died on Tuesday at the age of 76 from complications of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). He was a part of the legendary country band for over 51 years but announced his retirement in January of this year due to his illness.

Blake posted a photo on his Instagram story and Facebook page of him onstage with the Oak Ridge Boys as they all sang together. The former The Voice judge captioned the post: "I'm heartbroken to hear of my friend Joe Bonsall's passing."

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He added: "I've NEVER seen Joe when he wasn't smiling and completely full of life. He absolutely loved singing like no one I ever met. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and his @theoakridgeboys brothers. We all lost a special person today."

After Joe's death, the band continued to tour on their farewell tour. It was reported that Joe did want to help record a new Oak Ridge Boys album later this year.

In Joe's retirement post, he asked fans to "keep on praying" for him. He wrote on X, formally known as Twitter: "Many of you know I have been battling a slow onset (over four years now) of a neuromuscular disorder. I am now to a point that walking is impossible so I have basically retired from the road."

"It has just gotten too difficult," he continued, "It has been a great 50 years and I am thankful to all the Oak Ridge Boys band crew and staff for the constant love and support shown to me through it all."

He concluded: "I will never forget and for those of you who have been constantly holding me up in prayer I thank you and ask for you to keep on praying."

Though they wanted to keep Joe's ALS diagnosis private, after his death the family are requesting that donations be made to The ALS Association or the Vanderbilt Medical Center ALS and Neuroscience Research Center in lieu of a funeral.

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