KANSAS CITY, Mo. (January 12, 2013)--Rhythm guitar player John Wilkinson, who performed with Elvis Presley hundreds of times, has died in Missouri at the age of 67.

Wilkinson passed away Friday at his home in Springfield, Mo., the Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home said.

A family spokesman says Wilkinson had been fighting cancer.

Wilkinson first met Presley when he was 10, by sneaking into his dressing room before a show.

Wilkinson was 23 when Presley asked him to join the TCB Band in 1968.

He went on to play 1,200 shows with Presley before the legendary singer died in 1977.

His family says Wilkinson played less music after that, and made a living in retail and airline services management.

A stroke in 1989 left him unable to play the guitar, but he continued singing with the old TCB Band and others.