[5] His father died of a heart attack when Gary was 11 years old, forcing his mother to work in order to make ends meet, while Brooker himself took on a paper-round.

[8] The band gained respect within the burgeoning 1960s British R&B scene, which yielded the Beatles, the Animals, the Spencer Davis Group, the Rolling Stones, and many others.

[10] "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is the worldwide hit for which Procol Harum is best known, but Brooker's melancholic vocals and emotive, eclectic piano playing were a key part of the band's musical mix.

Brooker sang the lead vocal of the song "No News from the Western Frontier", a single taken from the album Hi-Tec Heroes by the Dutch performer Ad Visser.

[16] A new incarnation of Procol Harum, led by Brooker, continued touring the world, celebrating its 40th anniversary in July 2007 with two days of musical revels at St John's, Smith Square, in London.

[19] On 28 September 1996, as the Gary Brooker Ensemble, he organised a charity concert to raise funds for his local church, St Mary and All Saints, in Surrey.

[20] Also in 1996, Brooker appeared in the Alan Parker film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita starring Madonna, Jonathan Pryce, and Antonio Banderas.

[24] In 2011 he organised and performed in a concert at his home Wintershall, in Bramley, Surrey, in aid of the charity HASTE (Heart and Stroke Trust Endeavour).

[25][26] In May 2012, Procol Harum were forced to cancel the remainder of their dates in South Africa after Brooker fractured his skull following a fall in his hotel room in Cape Town.

[36] In 2005, former Procol Harum organist Matthew Fisher filed suit in the High Court against Brooker and his publisher, claiming that he co-wrote the music for the song.