Nearly one week after Regis Philbin passed away at age 88, his cause of death has been revealed.
A spokesperson for Chief Medical Examiner's Office in Farmington, CT tells E! News that the TV and game show legend died from a myocardial infarction due to coronary artery disease.
Following his death on Friday, July 24, his family mourned the loss in a statement to E! News. "We are deeply saddened to share that our beloved Regis Philbin passed away last night of natural causes, one month shy of his 89th birthday," their message began. "His family and friends are forever grateful for the time we got to spend with him–for his warmth, his legendary sense of humor, and his singular ability to make every day into something worth talking about.
The statement continued, "We thank his fans and admirers for their incredible support over his 60-year career and ask for privacy as we mourn his loss."
Philbin's longtime Live co-hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Kelly Ripa have gone on to pay tribute to their beloved friend.
"There are no words to fully express the love I have for my precious friend, Regis," Gifford wrote on Instagram. "I simply adored him and every day with him was a gift. We spent 15 years together bantering and bickering and laughing ourselves silly—a tradition and a friendship we shared up to this very day."
"I smile knowing somewhere in Heaven, at this very moment, he's making someone laugh," she continued. "It brings me great comfort knowing that he had a personal relationship with his Lord that brought him great peace."
On Monday, July 27, a tearful Ripa recalled learning of Philbin's death during a remote episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan. "Mark [Consuelos] and I were lucky enough to have all of our children with us this past weekend on Saturday," she told Ryan Seacrest. "We were all together when we heard this horrible news."
Ripa went on to add, "As people get older, you always know that certain things are inevitable and passing away is one of those things, but Regis is one of the people that we all believed, I think, would somehow figure out a way around the inevitable...It was not in the cards, I suppose."