Joe Cocker

Joe Cocker was an English singer known for one of rock and soul music's most distinctive voices: a gravelly, powerfully emotive instrument that set him apart from the smoother pop vocalists of his era. Born in Sheffield in 1944, he rose from working-class roots in England's industrial north to become one of the defining vocal interpreters of the 1960s and beyond.

Cocker's breakthrough came with his radically reimagined cover of The Beatles' «With a Little Help from My Friends», which transformed the original into a soulful, almost gospel-inflected performance and became emblematic of the era after his legendary appearance at Woodstock in 1969. His style drew heavily on American soul and blues, delivered with raw physicality and unmistakable rasp, making him as celebrated for his stage presence as for his voice.

Across a career spanning five decades, Cocker built a catalogue mixing soulful covers with original material, scoring major hits such as the duet «Up Where We Belong» and the ballad «You Are So Beautiful». He remained a touring and recording artist into the 2010s, respected as one of Britain's great blues-rock and soul voices, before his death in 2014.