Joe Cocker

Joe Cocker dated Eileen Webster intermittently from 1963 to 1976 before breaking up with her.

He married Pam Baker, a huge fan of his, in 1987. After marriage, the couple lived in Colorado.

He died of lung cancer on 22 December 2014 in Crawford, Colorado at the age of 70.

Joe Cocker was born on 20 May 1944, in Crookes, Sheffield, as the youngest son of Harold Cocker and Madge Cocker. His father was a civil servant.

He loved listening to music from a young age and was influenced by the singers Ray Charles and Lonnie Donegan.

He began to sing publicly when he was 12. He formed his first group, the Cavaliers, in 1960, with three friends.

Joe Cocker adopted a stage name, Vance Arnold, in 1961 and formed another group, Vance Arnold and the Avengers. The group basically performed covers of the songs of Ray Charles and Chuck Berry.

The group got the first big chance when they got the opportunity to support the Rolling Stones at Sheffield City Hall in 1963. The very next year, he signed as a solo act with Decca. The first single he released was a cover of The Beatles’ ‘I’ll Cry Instead’. It was a flop and his contract was cancelled.

In 1966, he formed a band – ‘The Grease’ with Chris Stainton. This group played in pubs around Sheffield. Denny Cordell, the producer of the Procol Harum and the Moody Blues noticed the band and invited Cocker to record a single, ‘Marjorine’.

In 1968, he released the single that would make him really famous. It was a cover version of the single ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’, originally performed by the Beatles. This single peaked at No.1 in the U.K. and was also a minor success in the U.S.

By now the original Grease band had dissolved and Cocker had re-established a new band of the same name consisting of Henry McCullough, and Tommy Eyre. He toured the U.K in late 1968 and early 1969.

His cover version of the Beatles’ single ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’ was the song that catapulted him to international fame. The single hit No.1 in the U.K and popularized Cocker. It also brought him in favourable relations with the Beatles.