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Joe Cocker was an English singer renowned for his powerful, gritty voice, passionate delivery, and distinctive stage presence, becoming a defining figure in blue-eyed soul and rock.Born in Sheffield, England, Cocker rose to international fame in 1969 with his iconic performance of "With a Little Help from My Friends" at Woodstock. His career spanned five decades, marked by hits like "You Are So Beautiful" and "Up Where We Belong" (a Grammy and Academy Award winner), alongside periods battling substance abuse. Known for his intense interpretations of others' songs, particularly Beatles covers, he toured relentlessly until his death from lung cancer in 2014.

• Cocker's performance of "With a Little Help from My Friends" at Woodstock in 1969, featuring his wildly spasmodic stage movements, became legendary and catapulted him to stardom.
• His career was significantly derailed in the early 1970s due to severe alcohol and drug addiction, leading to erratic performances, arrests, and financial ruin.
• Cocker's unique performing style, involving air guitar, jerky movements, and seemingly spastic gestures, was often imitated but never duplicated. He claimed it was an uninhibited physical response to the music.
• The 1970 "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" tour, organized by Leon Russell after Cocker's original band quit, became a famed rock circus, documented in a live album and film, but left Cocker exhausted and financially depleted.
• He died on December 22, 2014, in Crawford, Colorado, USA, from lung cancer. He was a heavy smoker for most of his life.