John Robert "Joe" Cocker OBE (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements.

A hastily thrown together 1970 US tour led to the live double-album Mad Dogs & Englishmen, which featured an all-star band organized by Leon Russell.

[11] The name was a combination of Vince Everett, Elvis Presley's character in Jailhouse Rock (which Cocker misheard as Vance), and country singer Eddy Arnold.

Cocker developed an interest in blues music and sought out recordings by John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins and Howlin' Wolf.

[16] In 1966, after a year-long hiatus from music, Cocker teamed up with Chris Stainton, whom he had met several years before, to form the Grease Band.

Cordell set Cocker up with a residency at the Marquee Club in London, and a "new" Grease Band was formed with Stainton and keyboardist Tommy Eyre.

The recording features lead guitar from Jimmy Page, drumming by B. J. Wilson, backing vocals from Sue and Sunny, and Tommy Eyre on organ.

[19] The new touring line-up of Cocker's Grease Band featured Henry McCullough on lead guitar, who would go on to briefly play with McCartney's Wings.

Impressed by his version of "With a Little Help from My Friends", Paul McCartney and George Harrison allowed Cocker to use their songs "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window" and "Something" for the album.

[23] Recorded during a break in touring in the spring and summer, the album reached number 11 on the US charts and garnered a second UK hit with the Leon Russell song, "Delta Lady".

[citation needed] Despite Cocker's reluctance to venture out on the road again, an American tour had already been booked so he had to quickly form a new band in order to fulfill his contractual obligations.

Meanwhile, he enjoyed several chart entries in the United States with cover versions of "Feelin' Alright" (originally recorded by Traffic) and "Cry Me a River".

After spending several months in Los Angeles, Cocker returned home to Sheffield, where his family became increasingly concerned with his deteriorating physical and mental health.

[28] The next day, in Melbourne, assault charges were laid after a brawl at the Commodore Chateau Hotel,[29] and the Australian Federal Police gave Cocker 48 hours to leave the country.

This caused huge public outcry in Australia, as Cocker was a high-profile overseas artist and had a strong support base, especially among the baby boomers who were coming of age and able to vote for the first time.

One such instance was reported in a 1974 issue of Rolling Stone, which said that during two West Coast performances in October of that year he threw up onstage.

Cocker then released a new reggae-influenced album, Sheffield Steel, recorded with the Compass Point All Stars, produced by Chris Blackwell and Alex Sadkin.

[citation needed] Also in 1982, Cocker recorded the duet "Up Where We Belong" with Jennifer Warnes for the soundtrack of the film An Officer and a Gentleman.

The song was an international hit, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and winning a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo.

In 1983, Cocker joined a star-studded line-up of British musicians, including Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Steve Winwood and Bill Wyman for singer Ronnie Lane's 1983 tour to raise money for the London-based organisation Action for Research into Multiple Sclerosis, in particular because Lane was beginning to suffer from the degenerative disease.

[citation needed] Throughout the 1980s, Cocker continued to tour around the world, playing to large audiences in Europe, Australia and the United States.

In 1986, he met the Italian singer Zucchero Fornaciari, who dedicated a song (Nuovo, meraviglioso amico, in Rispetto) to the English bluesman.

[41] After Barclay James Harvest and Bob Dylan, Cocker was the first to give rock concerts in the German Democratic Republic, in East Berlin and Dresden.

[citation needed] In 2000, Cocker was the opening act in select cities in the United States and Europe for Tina Turner's Twenty Four Seven Tour.

[50] The full show of 22 April at Cologne's Lanxess Arena was recorded and released on CD and DVD under the title Fire it up Live later in 2013.

The last concert on the tour, which was to be Cocker's final live performance, was at the Loreley Open Air Theatre in Sankt Goarshausen on 7 September 2013.

[citation needed] In 1994, fellow Yorkshire musician Philip Oakey, on behalf of his group, the Human League, said that Cocker was their "hero".

I was especially pleased when he decided to cover 'With a Little Help from My Friends' and I remember him and (producer) Denny Cordell coming round to the studio in Savile Row (central London) and playing me what they'd recorded and it was just mind-blowing, totally turned the song into a soul anthem and I was forever grateful to him for doing that.

[52]On 11 September 2015, a "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" tribute concert to Joe Cocker was performed at the Lockn' Festival featuring Tedeschi Trucks Band, Chris Stainton, Leon Russell, Rita Coolidge, Claudia Lennear, Pamela Polland, Doyle Bramhall II, Dave Mason, John Bell, Warren Haynes and Chris Robinson, among others.

In commemoration,[53] a Joe Cocker Mad Dogs and Englishmen Memory Book was created by Linda Wolf to celebrate the event.