R.I.P. Joe Cocker

Photo by Jeri Heiden

English singer and songwriter Joe Cocker has passed away from an undisclosed illness, his agent Barrie Marshall confirms to BBC News. He was 70.

Cocker’s career began in the ’60s, and he scored a hit in 1968 with a cover of the Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends”. He went on to perform that song at Woodstock in 1969. In 1975, his song “You Are So Beautiful” became a top five hit in the United States. Several years later, his 1983 duet with Jennifer Warnes, “Up Where We Belong”, went number one and yielded a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group. The song, which was featured in the Richard Gere film An Officer and a Gentleman, also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Marshall tells BBC News that Cocker was “simply unique” and “it will be impossible to fill the space he leaves in our hearts.” 

“With a Little Help From My Friends” live at Woodstock:

“Up Where We Belong”:

“You Are So Beautiful”:

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