Joe Cocker has passed - Our thoughts are with his family and friends

British singer Joe Cocker, whose had hits that included "You Are So Beautiful" and "Up Where We Belong," and a contortionist style of performance memorably parodied by John Belushi on "Saturday Night Live," has died. He was 70.
His London-based agent, Barrie Marshall, said Cocker died Monday of lung cancer in Colorado, where he has lived for the past two decades.
  © The Associated Press FILE - In this Sept. 12, 2000 file photo, singer Joe Cocker poses in Central Park in New York. Cocker, best known for the songs, "You Are So Beautiful," and the 1980s duet "Up Where We Belong," with Jennifer Warnes, died Monday, Dec. 22… Cocker, a song interpreter more than a songwriter, first became known through his hit cover of the Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends," and a characteristically manic performance at the first Woodstock festival in 1969. His raucous "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" tour of 1970 produced a film and a recording that went gold.
He had a top 10 hit in 1975 on the aching ballad "You Are So Beautiful," with his voice cracking on the final emotional note and won his first Grammy Award in 1983 for his "Up Where We Belong" duet with Jennifer Warnes, which was the theme of the movie "An Officer and a Gentleman."
Cocker, who received an Order of the British Empire in 2011 for his contribution to music, released 40 albums and continued to tour after the hits dried up.
He was known for an intense, twitchy stage presence where his arms would flail and face contort as he wrung notes from his raspy voice. When he performed on "Saturday Night Live" in 1976, Belushi parodied him onstage, exaggerating his movements by flipping to the ground. It was a clip seen as widely as Cocker's own performances.
Years later, Cocker told The Associated Press' Mary Campbell that he was playing an imaginary piano and air guitar while singing — the elements that contributed to this unique style.
"That was the frustration of not being able to play, really," he said.
Cocker moved to Crawford, Colorado, a town of fewer than 500 people, in the early 1990s. He and his wife, Pam, ran a children's educational foundation — the Cocker Kids Foundation — that raised funds for the town and schools, and ran the Mad Dog Cafe for several years in town, said Tom Wills, publisher of The North Fork Merchant Herald, a local community newspaper.
Wills said Cocker bought about 40 acres of property and built a hillside mansion — which he called Mad Dog Ranch — when he moved to Colorado.
A group of Cocker's friends gathered Monday at community radio station KVNF to play Cocker's songs.
"He had a long battle with cancer. We're trying to do a little tribute for him," said Bob Pennetta, a real estate agent and board member of the Cocker Kids Foundation.

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Henry McCullough Rock guitarist seriously ill in hospital ! - John Francis Kavanagh - Dublin Blues Club

Henry McCullough is an Irish guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, who has played guitar in such bands as Sweeney's Men, Spooky Tooth, Paul McCartney & Wings, and The Grease Band.
Henry McCullough is in a critical condition in hospital after suffering a heart attack.
The 69-year-old from Portstewart, Northern Ireland, was taken ill on Monday night.
McCullough, who played with Joe Cocker at the famous Woodstock festival in 1969, is being treated at the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine.
A spokeswoman for the hospital said he was in a "critical condition".
The rock guitarist embarked on a successful solo career after his time playing with Paul McCartney in Wings.
He is perhaps best known for his playing on Wings' number one hit My Love.
His sister Rae Morrison said the family were very distressed.
"He is very special person," she said. "It really is a very worrying time for us."
Henry McCullough is an Irish guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, who has played guitar in such bands as Sweeney's Men, Spooky Tooth, Paul McCartney & Wings, and The Grease Band.

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With A Little Help From Me Friends - Joe Cocker

John Robert "Joe" Cocker, (born 20 May 1944) is an English rock and blues singer, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of the Beatles.

He is the recipient of several awards, including a 1983 Grammy Award for his #1 hit "Up Where We Belong", a duet he performed with Jennifer Warnes. He was ranked #97 on Rolling Stone's 100 greatest singers list
Cocker was born on 20 May 1944 at 38 Tasker Road, Crookes, Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire. He is the youngest son of a civil servant, Harold Cocker, and Madge Cocker. According to differing family stories, Cocker received his nickname of Joe either from playing a childhood game called "Cowboy Joe" or from a local window cleaner named Joe.

Cocker's main musical influences growing up were Ray Charles and Lonnie Donegan. Cocker's first experience singing in public was at age 12 when his elder brother Victor invited him on stage to sing during a gig of his skiffle group. In 1960, along with three friends, Cocker formed his first group, the Cavaliers. For the group's first performance at a youth club, they were required to pay the price of admission before entering. The Cavaliers eventually broke up after a year and Cocker left school to become an apprentice gasfitter while he pursued a career in music
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