Singer Joe Cocker, 70, dies of lung cancer, reports say
LOS ANGELES — Joe Cocker, the British singer who had numerous hits in the 1970s and ’80s including a barrel-throated rendition of “With a Little Help From My Friends,” has died, according to BBC News. He was 70.
Multiple reports suggest the singer died of lung cancer.
Cocker was known for his raspy-bluesy style and the physical effort he put into performing — a style famously spoofed on “Saturday Night Live” by John Belushi.
Cocker scored a No. 1 hit in 1982 with “Up Where We Belong,” a duet with Jennifer Warnes that was featured as the theme song to the film “An Officer and a Gentleman.” The song won the Oscar for writers Jack Nitzsche, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Will Jennings.
Other Cocker hits included “Feelin’ Alright” and “You Are So Beautiful.”
A native of Sheffield, Cocker got his start singing in local pubs before he hit as a recording artist in 1969 with the gospel-flavored take on the Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends.” He teamed with producer Leon Russell the following year for a massive U.S. tour with a huge band that yielded the successful double album “Mad Dogs and Englishmen.”
Cocker played his last concert in June 2013 at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, which came on the heels of a successful tour of Europe, Marshall told BBC News.
Check out the clips below of Cocker performing “With a Little Help From My Friends.”