George Strait is mourning the loss of longtime friend and pro rodeo legend Roy Cooper, who died in a house fire at age 69.

Cooper was also remembered in a tribute from the National Cowboy Museum, which remembered him as “a true game-changer in tie-down roping, from his rookie year in 1976, when he won his first world title, to becoming the first cowboy to earn $2 million in ProRodeo history.”

Cooper was found dead after his home near Decatur burned down Tuesday. Cooper was a legend in the rodeo scene for several decades and is in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.