The 53-year-old guitarist, songwriter and producer was found dead yesterday in Napier.
Napier police would not provide details about Morris' death but said no suspicious circumstances existed.
Th' Dudes were formed by Morris, Peter Urlich, Peter Coleman and Dave Dobbyn in 1975 while they were students at Auckland's Sacred Heart College.
They released their debut album Right First Time in 1978 and the song Mine Tonight won Single of the Year while the band was named best group at the RIANZ Music Awards.
A year later Morris left Th' Dudes and went on to have a career as songwriter, producer and recording engineer.
His production credits included DD Smash, The Screaming Meemees, the Warratahs, When the Cat's Away, Greg Johnson and Dave Dobbyn. Morris also wrote numerous jingles, arrangements, and orchestrations.
Performing under the name Tex Pistol, he had two No 1 hits in New Zealand, with The Game of Love in 1987 and Nobody Else the same year, sung by his brother Rikki.
Th' Dudes reformed in 2006 and embarked on two New Zealand tours.
