Joe Cocker - Biography

Joe Cocker (born May 20 1944) is a pop music singer.

He started his musical career in the city of his birth Sheffield, England in some minor bands at the age of 15: the first band was the Avengers (under the stage name Vance Arnold), then Big Blues (1963), and then The Grease Band (1966). In 1969 he was featured on the American TV program The Ed Sullivan Show.

His first big hit was the song "With a Little Help from My Friends," a cover of the song by The Beatles off the Sgt. Pepper's album, [with guitar played by Jimmy Page]. The same year he appeared at the Woodstock Music Festival. He had further success covering Beatles tunes with his cover of their song "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window" off their Abbey Road album. Other early hits included "Cry Me a River" and "Feelin' Alright". In 1970, his live cover of the Box Tops' hit "The Letter", which appeared on the tour compilation album Mad Dogs & Englishmen, became his first U.S. Top Ten.

Onstage, he often exhibited a physical intensity as he sang, and his unique stage presence was often spoofed by comedian John Belushi (including an impromptu duet when Joe was the guest musician on Saturday Night Live).

In the beginning of 1970s he had problems with drugs including alcohol that had a bad influence on his musical career. He managed, however, to make a comeback in the 1980s and 1990s with several massive chart hits like:

• Up where We Belong, (Academy Award winning song written by Will Jennings and sung with Jennifer Warnes for the motion picture An Officer and a Gentleman);

• You are So Beautiful;

• When The Night Comes;

• N'oubliez Jamais or Unchain my heart.

Joe Cocker's Official Website