THE PRETTY RECKLESS Singer Pays Tribute To Producer KATO KHANDWALA: 'He Was Our Ringleader, Our Confidant, My Best Friend'

THE PRETTY RECKLESS singer Taylor Momsen has paid tribute to the band's longtime producer Kato Khandwala, calling him "our ringleader" and "our confidant" and saying that "nothing will be the same without him."

Khandwala passed away Wednesday (April 25) from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.

In addition to producing every single THE PRETTY RECKLESS piece of music, he has worked with BLONDIE, BREAKING BENJAMIN, PAPA ROACH, DROWNING POOL and PIERCE THE VEIL, among others,

Earlier today, Momsen posted a message to her social media pages in which she called Khandwala her "best friend" and credited him with changing the "direction" of her life.

She wrote: "Ten years ago, while trying to put my band together, through a series of lucky events, I found myself sitting in my apartment on 23rd street in [New York City] across from two men, who, little did I know, would change the entire direction of my life. Unlike all the other musicians and producers I had met, here were two longtime best friends, with so much passion for music. They just breathed an infectious and uncompromising love of music. Their names were Kato and [guitarist] Ben [Phillips]. I found myself drawn to their relationship and its musical roots. I wanted to join their world. A few months later, we would start making music together, and two best friends would become three. We were inseparable for the next nine years and formed a relationship we all knew would last a lifetime. It was everything. Then on Wednesday night, in a sudden moment, Kato was gone. He was our ringleader, our confidant, my best friend, my family, my musical soulmate. Nothing will be the same without him. All the character and music he brought to this world will have a lasting impact, and he will never be forgotten."

She added: "I love you, Kato. I will miss you every minute of every day. I don't know what to do without you."

In a 2017 interview with Alto Music, Kato stated about his working relationship with THE PRETTY RECKLESS: "A band like THE PRETTY RECKLESS, it's an extraordinarily creative team of people. So I wouldn't say I am trying to shape anything in any particular way. What I am there to do, though, is to make sure that they're always operating at their very best. So that goes from the writing to the performances to taking risks and being experimental and maybe stepping a little bit outside of their zone. So I try to create an environment where they feel comfortable to experiment and try things."