Former Northern Irish first minister
A towering figure during the Troubles in Northern Ireland and known for his decades of intransigence and impassioned rhetoric, Paisley had been ill for some time.
"My beloved husband, Ian, entered his eternal rest this morning," his wife Eileen said on behalf of the family on Friday.
"We loved him and he adored us, and our earthly lives are forever changed."
Paisley did what even he once considered unthinkable in May 2007 and entered office with Sinn Fein - the political wing of the now-defunct Irish Republican Army paramilitary group - and as a result restored stable, devolved government to the British province.
In a feat few could match, the pro-British preacher co-founded both a church and a political party, leading the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster and the Protestant, conservative Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
Paisley's widow said his funeral would be private and attended only by his immediate family in accordance with his wishes.
A memorial service will be held later this year.
Politicians in Belfast, London and Dublin have paid tribute to Paisley's impact during a lifetime in Northern Irish politics.
Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness, the ex-IRA commander who entered government with Paisley as deputy first minister - a post he still holds - voiced his sadness at the unionist titan's passing.
"I developed a close working relationship with him which developed into a friendship, which despite our many differences lasted beyond his term in office."
Northern Irish First Minister Peter Robinson, Paisley's successor as DUP leader, described him as a "colossus in unionism", while British Prime Minister David Cameron said the contribution Paisley made in his later years to political stability was huge.
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said Paisley's devotion to his faith and Northern Irish unionists was "deep and unshakeable".
"Dr Paisley was by any measure a major figure in the history of these islands," he said.
"And, while he was of course a divisive figure, his greatest legacy will be one of peace."
Former British prime minister Tony Blair, who presided over the restoration of devolved government in Northern Ireland, said: "Ian was a man of deep convictions. The convictions never changed. But his appreciation of the possibilities of peace, gradually and with much soul searching, did. He began as the militant. He ended as the peace-maker."
Paisley represented North Antrim in the British parliament's lower House of Commons from 1970 to 2010 and in the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998 to 2011.
He sat in the European Parliament from 1979 to 2004, where he once denounced pope John Paul II as the "antichrist" during a 1988 visit from the pontiff.
In 2010 he entered the British parliament's upper House of Lords as Baron Bannside.
Paisley had three daughters and two sons.
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