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Singer-songwriter Joe Cocker dies at 70
In this file photo, singer Joe Cocker performs during the "Hard Knocks Tour 2011" at Auditorium Parco Della Musica on July 27, 2011 in Rome, Italy. Cocker, perhaps best known for his cover of the Beatles song "With a Little Help from My Friends," has died at the age of 70, according to BBC.
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Joe Cocker, the famed singer and songwriter known for his gritty voice and a memorable cover of the Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends," has died. He was 70.
His London-based agent, Barrie Marshall, said Cocker died early Monday of lung cancer in Colorado, where he has lived for the past two decades, the Associated Press reports.
"It is with the heaviest hearts we heard that our beloved Joe Cocker passed away last night. He was without the doubt the greatest rock/soul voice ever to come out of Britain - and remained the same man throughout his life," Marshall wrote in a statement shared by BBC.
Cocker was also known for a memorable Woodstock performance, according to AP.
Here's more from AP:
The ballad "You Are So Beautiful," with Cocker's voice cracking on the final emotional note, was a Top Ten hit in 1975. He reached the top of the charts in the 1980s with the duet "Up Where We Belong," with Jennifer Warnes, that appeared in the movie "An Officer and a Gentlemen."
Cocker also had hits with Randy Newman's song, "You Can Leave Your Hat On" and "When the Night Comes."
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Cocker continued performing until very recently. Last year he broke all his own records in arenas across Europe, according to BBC, scoring a number one album in Germany and performing his final concert in London in June.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0h6Yz50VZ0
This story has been updated.
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