Joe Cocker, the
British blues-rock singer whose raspy voice brought plaintive soul to such hits
as "You Are So Beautiful" and the duet "Up Where We
Belong," died Monday after a battle with lung cancer. He was 70.
Cocker's
performing career spanned some 50 years, from Woodstock, where he sang the
Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends," to the digital-music
era. He had tour dates scheduled well into 2015. Continue..
"Goodbye
and God bless to Joe Cocker from one of his friends peace and love.
Cocker
began as a singer in England at the same time as the Beatles, with whom he was
often linked. He played pubs across the country in a series of rock bands
before he and his Grease Band recorded "With a Little Help From My
Friends" in 1968 with Jimmy Page, Steve Winwood and others.
The song became a No. 1 hit in
England and propelled him to Woodstock, where his passionate live version was a
festival highlight and launched his U.S. career.
Cocker
scored another major success in the early 1970s with "Mad Dogs and
Englishmen," a live album and concert film.
"Up
Where We Belong," his duet with Jennifer Warnes from the movie "An
Officer and a Gentleman," was Cocker's biggest U.S. hit, topping the
Billboard singles charts in 1982. It also won him a Grammy, and the Oscar for
best original song.
Cocker
was known for his spasmodic movements on stage, where he often flailed his arms
as he sang. His distinctive moves, he said, were almost accidental.
"I
never played organ or piano or guitar, so it was more out of frustration and me
just trying to impersonate in a way,". "I did it subconsciously.
People mistook for me being ill, like I had palsy. I'm not nearly so
demonstrative now, but I still have my own way of feeling the rhythm."
Cocker
also had lesser hits with covers of torch classic "Cry Me a River,"
Traffic's "Feeling Alright," the Boxtops' "The Letter" and
the Beatles' "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window."
In the
1980s his witty cover of Randy Newman's "You Can Leave Your Hat On,"
was featured in the erotic drama "9 1/2 Weeks" and became a
strip-tease anthem.
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