(Reuters) - Mark Abrahamian, the longtime guitarist for the rock band Starship, has died at age 46, the group said on Monday.

Abrahamian had played since 2000 for the band, whose lineage reaches back to the 1960s with Jefferson Airplane and as Jefferson Starship in the 1980s.

"We are shocked and saddened at the sudden loss of our guitar player Mark Abrahamian. We will miss you, brother. Rest in peace, Mark," Starship said in a Twitter message.

The band did not give a cause or place of death. Starship played on Sunday in Norfolk, Nebraska, at a concert with Boston and Survivor.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Peter Cooney)