Five-time world darts champion Eric Bristow has died at the age of 60 after suffering a heart attack.
Professional Darts Corporation chairman Barry Hearn told BBC Sport he collapsed at a Premier League event in Liverpool.
As news of his death reached the crowd at the Echo Arena, fans repeatedly sang: "There's only one Eric Bristow."
Hearn said Bristow, known by his nickname the Crafty Cockney, would "always be a legend in the world of darts and British sport".
World champion five times between 1980 and 1986, Bristow also won five World Masters titles and was a founder player when the PDC was formed in 1993. He was awarded an MBE for his services to sport in 1989.
He also worked as a TV pundit and appeared on ITV show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here in 2012.
In November he lost his role with Sky after suggesting sexual abuse victims were not "proper men".
"Eric was never afraid of controversy, but he spoke as he found and was honest and straightforward, which is what people admired about him," Hearn added.
Bristow competed at a World Championship for the final time in 2000 - his 23rd in a career during which he won more than 70 professional titles, reports BBC.
He was inducted into the PDC Hall of Fame in 2005 and retired from competing at the end of 2007.
