• Rado passed away Tuesday night in New York City due to a cardiac arrest.
• Rado passed on Tuesday night in New York City.

James Rado, co-creator of the famous rock musical “Hair,” which opened the way for the sound of rock on Broadway and glorified protest, narcotics, and free love, has passed away. He was 90.

According to a friend and publicist Merle Frimark, Rado passed on Tuesday night in New York City due to cardiac respiratory arrest.

The Broadway production of “Hair,” which contains music by Galt MacDermot and lyrics by Rado and Gerome Ragni, was the first rock musical, the first Broadway production to feature complete nudity, and the first to feature a same-sex kiss.

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Tributes came in from the theater world, including André De Shields, who tweeted “Rest in power, James Rado,” to playwright Michael R. Jackson, whose “A Strange Loop” just won the Tony Award for best new musical. He tweeted “rest in peace.”

Other rock musicals like “Rent” and “Jesus Christ Superstar” were made possible thanks to “Hair.” It was one of just a select few Broadway productions in recent years to have songs that reached the pop charts, like “Hamilton.”