Born on 20 May: Joe Cocker, rock’n roll to the end

He was born in Sheffield (England) in 1944 and was the divine surprise of the Woodstock festival in August 1969.

A fabulous performer, the singer's absolutely unique gravelly voice is recognizable amongst a thousand others. His stage performance, spasmodic and epileptic, was already hinted at during his chaotic yet masterful appearance at the Woodstock festival in August 1969 for a rendition of the "With A Little Help From Friends" by the Beatles. As an anecdote, he was accompanied by the Grease Band, one of the best groups to ever play with him. The story goes that Paul McCartney was so impressed that he offered him his song "Let It Be" before the Beatles recorded it themselves on their last studio album in 1970.

If Joe Cocker experienced some musical thrills, notably by performing as the opening act for the Rolling Stones in his hometown in 1963, he had not yet taken off and merely played covers in local pubs.

His first self-titled album in 1969, still very bluesy, notably with a cover of "Bird On A Wire" that Leonard Cohen had just recorded for "Songs From A Room", allowed him to catch the attention of Woodstock's programmers. And the rest is history…

With albums like "Mad Dogs And Englishmen" (1970) or "I Can’t Stand The Rain" (1974), Joe Cocker asserted his style and transformed the covers he added to his repertoire. His concerts began to draw crowds. His duet with Jennifer Warnes for "Up Where We Belong" for the film An Officer And A Gentleman (in 1982) or his cover of "You Can Leave Your Hat On" by Randy Newman for the film "Nine 1/2 Weeks" in 1986 allowed him to expand his audience even further.

Although he gave up his two main addictions in 2001, cigarettes and alcohol, the singer's health gradually declined. While the quality of his performances began to suffer, he made it a point of pride to continue performing on stage until September 2013. Because it was on stage that he truly felt happy…

Joe Cocker would have celebrated his 81st birthday. Unfortunately, this heavy smoker passed away just over ten years ago, in December 2014 due to lung cancer.

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Joe Cocker at Sportpaleis in Antwerp (Belgium) for the Diamond Awards on 6 December 1987